Spartan of Zero
by exterminatus1
Summary: Saito was called many things: Child, soldier, traitor, Spartan. Now he is a familiar to a certain pink haired magician. Follow a Spartan's journey throughout Halkegina and beyond!
1. Chapter 1

Halo belongs to Bungie and Zero no Tsukaima belongs to Noboru Yamaguchi. I have not earned a cent, but have gained some weight and lost my own self-worth, writing this.

Edited: 13/3/2013

/

Explosions gutted the vessel as the squadron of UNSC ships tore the _Xanatos [1]_ apart.

"Shield integrity at twenty-per cent, sir!"

"All Starboard weapon ports are offline! Dear god…all secondary weapons are down!"

On the bridge of the renegade ship, Spartan-Commander Samuel ceaselessly yelled out orders. "Divert all powers from the lower decks! I want the shield back up and operational when those bastards recharge their MACs!"

Samuel was a giant. Even amongst the Spartans. He spoke with a gurgling voice that resembled of a man chewing razorblades.

An engineer protested "But that cuts off all the power away from the Unggoy quart-"

"I do not care for the lives of aliens! I want my ship intact!" Samuel growled.

Biting down further remarks, and fearful to dare question the Spartan-Commander, the engineer typed a series of codes into his console. He knew he had consigned the deaths of hundreds of Unggoy to a cold death.

"Sir, all done. None-essential power rerouted towards shielding and FTL drive. We only managed to-"

A sudden explosion rocked the entire ship. Communication consoles burst into flames and threw the entire bridge in darkness.

The UNSC frigates had fired.

Mac rounds and Archer missiles streaked from the enemy ships. The _Xanatos _held on as scores of warheads detonated against it's hull.

Samuel grunted as he picked himself up. "What is our drift-" He stopped as he suddenly realised that half his bridge crew was dead. The body of an ensign, decapitated by a piece of shrapnel, slumped in the chair of the engine reactor readout. The screen was blown outwards.

Samuel called up the energy readouts from his HUD and assessed the situation. He swore as he saw the shields were less than thirty-precent charged. They were scrapping as much juice as possible to survive the next volley before attempting a jump.

Innumerable flashing icons arrayed in front of him. The X-Type 32 interface for his command variant armour allowed the user to act as a portable command unit on board a ship. It was specially designed for Spartan-Commanders to lead naval engagements.

The layout of the _Xanatos _displayed across his HUD.

He saw that there were several hull breaches indicated by angry red flashes. A few of them could be isolated by sealing them until repairs could be made when safe. However, the breach on the third deck showed a sizable breach.

"S-sir! We ha-have boarders!" one of the surviving officers cried out, confirming his fears.

Samuel cursed out loud. The last impact was meant to cripple its engines and lower it shields enough to send boarders in to storm the ship. The three Ravager-frigates had enough firepower to destroy the _Xanatos_, yet they risked to engage a boarding action.

"Call all teams to contain third deck! Repel boarders at all cost!"

/

The sleek shapes of the three Ravager-class frigates descended on the renegade ship.

It had been nearly six months since the _Xanatos_ ran through the naval blockade around New Constantine. During those six months, elements of the sixth fleet were tasked to hunt down the rogue Spartan and his crew.

Captain Richards was a career navy man. Having spent a good part of his adult life fighting the Covenant in the Prowler Corps, he saw hunting the rogue _Xanatos_ a challenge worthy of his skills.

Richard's Prowler Corps were the wolf packs of space warfare; they were the subtle knife cutting off the enemy's life line. Striking from hidden bases, they mount raiding attacks on Covenant shipping making merry hell with their logistics.

Worlds were saved with a timely strike at a Covenant supply line. Covenant armies were left without food and ammunition, fleets without plasma and fuel.

What Richard did not understand was why ONI wanted the ship to be captured rather than destroyed. For this task, they sent in a company of ODSTs specially equipped for boarding actions. He had seen them embark at his ships on the onset of the mission. Ninety of the most ruthless and cold-blooded soldiers not wearing a suit of Mjolnr armour.

He had precise orders not to destroy the ship. Instead, cripple it and let the ODSTs take it over.

"Captain, the boarding parties have stormed the ship. All CIWS has been eliminated. The ODSTs entered without a hitch."

Richard nodded. "Stand at the ready. I don't want any surprises; the _Xanatos _is a Halcyon-class cruiser, a ship known for their durability. The Xanatos stood against three Covenant frigates and emerged victorious."

The _Xanatos _during the Martian campaign had, in a fit of suicidal bravery, took down two enemy frigates and crippled one before escaping.

Richard had read the reports. It was a manoeuvre worthy of being listed alongside other exploits such as the Keyes Loop and the Cole Gamble.

Now they were marked as traitors and hunted down like pirates rather than hailed as heroes.

Richard surveyed the wounded prey in front of him. He wondered how the crew of the _Xanatos _were holding up.

/

Saito-432 fired a burst from his machine-gun. The first few rounds deflected from the energy shielding surrounding the ODST's powered armour before the heavy calibre rounds overloaded the shield. But the ODST were already in cover with the rest of its unit before Saito could finish him off.

He cursed. They were good; Saito had to give them that.

Barley twenty-minutes had passed since the enemy stormed out of the third deck and spread itself throughout the ship like vermin. An apt comparison, he had to admit.

Saito keyed in his inter-unit radio. "Theta-3, this is Theta-2. Where the hell are you?"

A female voice replied with the chatter of heavy gunfire in the background. "We are engaging heavy fire from the mess hall on deck 2! The enemy is approaching the bridge. All Unggoy auxiliaries and naval troopers are down, it's only Theta-3 left!"

Saito pulled out the layout of the ship and saw the blinking icon of Theta-3. He was glad that the UNSC had not yet hacked into the ships battle-net. They still enjoyed the luxury of unencrypted messages but it was only a matter of time for their much more advanced AIs to break through.

"Shit. Hold your position, Lisa! I'll take Theta-2 and rendezvous with you."

The fire was getting intense. The ODSTs were in squad strength, ten of them spread out across the corridor. A few had heavy boarding-shields and were providing cover for their comrades while they advanced. More were coming by the sounds of radio chatter.

"Oh shit," Saito swore.

A Spartan exploded from the air-ducts. Dan was a heavy set man clad in a suit of Mjolnr mark V. It was a rarity for those aboard the _Xanatos_ to be wearing their original issued equipment. The years following their self-exodus had made them more reliant on raiding for supplies. Saito himself wore a bastardised mix of parts. His original Mark VI was all but replaced saved for his chest piece and left pauldron.

It was a trap. Saito had been the snare and Dan the hammer. And now the tables have turned.

Dan had planted half a dozen directional anti-personnel mines beneath him. As soon as the ODSTs made their way towards Saito, the mines detonated forwards towards the heads of the advancing ODSTs. Explosive shrapnel rained downwards and eliminated half of them outright and putting the rest into shock.

Dan brought out his weapon, a hand held flamethrower. The ODSTs screamed as they were lit up like Roman candles.

"You want me?!" Dan screamed, almost psychotically. He forged a path with his weapon, his own shields deflecting the rounds firing at him.

But more and more ODSTs were coming through. Dan had made a hole for them to escape from the ever tightening grip and they ran. Gun fire chased them, too many had found their mark but their energy shielding negated their effect.

"Move to deck-2. We meet up with the rest of Theta," Saito said. "We are too spread out to cover all boarding teams as well as critical areas. We have to break out from their cordon and strike at them."

"We can't go anywhere," said Dan. "Our exit is blocked by ODSTs; we have to go around engineering and into the service maintenance walk ways. Though I would expect they now have that covered as well."

"Tom and Theta-4 have engaged in the hangar bays. Maybe we can gather them- hold on." He raised his weapon and took down one of the ODSTs advancing with a primed grenade. The force of the bullets knocked him back and the grenade detonated prematurely in his hands.

Blood and bone fragments splattered the Spartans. The sergeant was still alive but his right arm ended at his elbow. Saito and Dan just ran past the screaming soldier.

"Fuck, these bastards are tough." Saito remarked as a hail of rifle fire came from a group of ODSTs that appeared right around the corridor. He returned fire from his light machine-gun. The weapon's buckle was barley felt in his gauntleted hands.

"The enemy has railguns!"

"Shit, powered armour and anti-Spartan weaponry? ONI really hates u-."

There was a sound of electrical discharge and then a whoosh as the railgun fired. Dan pulled Saito to the floor. "Get down!"

At such close range the ferro-steel slug would've liquefied the Spartans regardless of their shielding. During that split second before impact and detonation, Dan and Saito diverted all power towards their energy shielding.

Dan's well maintained Mark V could safely use the armour locking capability without sacrificing processing power. This meant that he could be combat ready as soon as his shield was back to normal.

Saito had no such luck. The overcharged shielding had taxed his fusion plant to the limit. He felt his vision go dark as the HUD shut down. He could not move.

Dan swore colourfully as he saw the ODSTs advanced from cover. The crack from their rifles meant that they were throwing cover fire for their advancing brethren. He fired off a gush of flame towards the ODSTs. It incinerated the man with the railgun.

"Get the hell up, Saito!" Dan cried.

An ODST with the stripes of a sergeant was incinerated as Dan sent another stream of flames at the advancing enemy. Two others yelped and screamed as the flames caught on. The chemical reactant within the gout of flames caused the ODST's shields to flicker and die before consuming them.

Inside the suit of armour, Saito swore at his helplessness.

_No! I will not fail!_

He fought against the restraints of his armour. He saw his 10 year old form, his wails and cries against an uncaring universe. He remembered the state of his comrades on Mars, Reach and numberless other battlefields as they were flash fried from Covenant weapons.

He heard a yell of pain. It was Dan.

"Dan! Dan! Are you okay?" Saito yelled into the radio.

Static answered him.

He heard more gunfire; more screams and the smell of bunt flesh and napalm.

Is he hit? Is he down? He attempted to turn his view around to try to see what was going on. His visor showed nothing but blank static. The stolen helmet was an old Mark IV model which did not allow for depolarisation.

_Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I have to help him! I will not be confined like this!_

What seems like an age, Saito sensed a flicker of power flowing through his neural interface. Data streams and targeting solutions scrolled down his HUD as his systems restarted. He felt his fingers curling as he manipulated it through his gauntlet.

Finally, his armour whirred into life. He cranked his head around to see his comrade.

Dan lay slumped against the blast barricade. A group of ODSTs surrounded him. The big Spartan was still alive, judging from the life signs showing in his unit HUD.

Only barely.

"Finally got one, huh sarge?" One of the ODSTs smirked.

"Think he's alive." The Sergeant remarked.

"What? We put enough holes in him to down a goddamn Elite!"

"Take his helmet off. I want to see the bastard who gutted McArthur."

_No!_

Saito could do nothing but watch. Rage boiled up inside him.

_Bastards!_

He willed with all his might to move, to reach out for a weapon. Something he could do to save his friend. He thought to scream out, to distract them from finishing off Dan.

"Don't do it, Saito." That came over the radio link. "I'm dead anyway, my spines cracked and can't feel anything. Unlike you, I don't have the chems in my brain to keep me moving."

"I. Will. Not. Leave. _You_!" Saito said through grated teeth.

Dan's only reply was a laugh. The ODST noticed this and immediately trained their weapons onto the downed Spartan.

"Shit," the sergeant remarked "he's awake."

"Just finish him off now!"

/

"Sir, slipspace engine charged! We are awaiting confirmation for the rest of engineering-"

"Do it!"

The space around the _Xanatos_ exploded.

/

Dozens of crewmen and ODSTs were swept away as the _Xanatos_ escaped into slipspace.

On deck three, having already been weakened by the boarding torpedos, it completely exposed itself to the mercies of space. The ODSTs, those not mag locked into the deck, were sucked out and into slipspace.

The death toll reached approximately 134 naval crewmen, 210 Unggoy labourers, 64 ODST troopers and 3 Spartans.

Saito 432 was amongst the losses.

/

Within the depths of space and time a cosmic sentience became aware of an anomaly. Its mind was ancient beyond compare, having been birthed before time became a concept of temporal measurement.

A mortal mind could not comprehend such a being. To even take a glimpse of this eldritch sentience risked having the fabric of reality warp and tear.

It was a pool of swirling energies, thoughts and emotions of a hundred galaxies. It was pure Chaos.

And something was wrong.

This sentinence detected an anomally. In a micro second, the eldritch horror calculated how this would affect his current plans.

It went through a hundred thousand possible lifetimes, seeking a way to use the anomally to its advantage.

The sentience gave an equivalent of a grin which would've been strikingly similar to an avian creature taking his hands and linking it together under its beak.

"Just as planned…"

/

Saito woke up to the sound of voices.

The first thing he noticed was a clear blue sky. He knew immediatley that he was not aboard the _Xanatos._

The second item of interest was a crowd surrounding him.

They were clad in robes and capes which was alien to the Spartan. It resembled more of a fantasy land. The castle in the background and the strange animals seems to support that.

If this was what the afterlife was like, he was disappointed.

He felt the familiar shape of his stowaway weapon in his holster and the combat dagger in his boot.

He was not caught completely unprepared.

_Where am I?_

_"Qui êtes-vous?"_

Saito glanced at the direction where the question originated from. A short girl, who appeared to be in her young teens, approached him. She was wearing the black cloak like the other children as well as a white blouse and a grey pleated skirt.

Her hair was…pink?

"I-I'm sorry? I don't understand?" he managed to say. He didn't know if he should reach for his weapon or question them for answers. But that would be moot since they didn't seem to speak English.

"_Par le Fondateur! Louise a convoqué un golem!" _someone from the crowd of children shouted out and the rest of them laughed and jeered at the little pink-haired girl.

"_I. .. J'ai juste fait une petite erreur!"_

"_De quelle erreur parles-tu? C'est toujours comme ça que ça se passe."_ A balding middle-aged man replied.

Saito speculated that he was in some sort of…school. It did not resemble any educational facilities anywhere in the UNSC.

Judging from the clear skies and the lack of any building of complex human origin, save the castle, he was in some fringe world in the outer colonies.

"_Bien sûr! Après tout, c'est Louise La Zéro!"_ The crowd taunted.

_"Attendez, je vais lancer un sort de traduction." _The balding man waved his arms and incanted a stream of words. Saito felt a tingling sensation within him. He shook himself from the stupor and immediately drew out his firearm.

It was a trophy weapon that Saito had taken from the hands of an ONI operative. It was a civilian weapon, a loose variation of the popular M6 used by the military. Due to its large calibre and its ability to stop a raging Brute with a single shot, it has been affectionately called the Stomper [2].

"I demand to know where the hell I am!"

The crowd immediately gasped and drew back. A few looked as if they were going to faint.

"Holy Founder, He can talk?!"

"Forget about him talking. Why is a golem using a gun?"

Saito perked up. _They're speaking English?_

"You can hear me?" he asked hesitantly. His Stomper was on safe mode and finger away from the trigger. They are still children; surely they would not pose much of a threat?

"Louise, please continue the ritual."

"Y-yes," the pink haired girl stammered.

"What are you-" Saito was taken aback when the pink haired girl advanced towards him. She was short compared to the other children, only barley coming up to his chest. But she held a pose that reek of self-confidence and pride.

"My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers; bless this humble being, and make him my familiar."

Then she kissed him.

She had to tip toe up to even reach his neck. Louise would've never even reached his head if he had not tilted his head down to meet the girl. She kissed his visor. If the situation had not been so bizarre, Saito would've laughed madly.

Then he felt pain.

It was a burning sensation in his left hand. Saito felt as if someone took a burning hot poker and branded him. It was nothing compared to taking a plasma bolt head to the chest or feeling your own bones restructures itself after augmentation.

Still, it hurt like a son of a bitch.

"Now you are my familiair," Louise said, "you will now obe-"

Saito grabbed Louise with his left arm, taking her hostage. His Stomper pressed against her head.

"Nobody move! I demand to know where the hell I am!"

/

Lexicon

[1]The _Xanatos_

The Halcyon-class cruiser was first constructed over the shipyards over Mars in 2515 before its completion in 2519. Like all Halcyon-class cruisers, it was mothballed due to its advanced age. As the Covenant War progressed, these ships were taken out of storage and refitted to meet the Covenant threat.

The Xanatos was one of the many hundreds of ships refitted over Mars. However, instead of being diverted to the main theatres in the Eastward Rim or the defence of the Inner Colonies, the Xanatos was specifically designed for Spartan IIIs and ONI operatives where prowlers are often unavailable.

Instead of the modernised weapon systems other Halcyon-class incorporated, the Xanatos spotted an improved command and control relay for coordination between ground troops. A dozen Archer missile ports were taken away and instead the hangar space was enlarged in order to increase ground deployment capabilities.

Its first engagement was to suppress rebellions over Cyprus II where the Spartan IIIs took down insurgent strongholds in a matter of weeks. Rumours of massacres and heavy handed approach towards the rebellion were rife throughout the peacekeeping force.

From there, it participated in dozens of missions including liquidating rogue ONI cells and supporting UNSC engagements.

It was at the Martian campaign in 2552 where it truly excelled itself. The Xanatos, provided orbit to surface fire support for advancing UNSC troops to counter the Covenant foothold on the planet. Three Covenant frigates intercepted the Xanatos and destroyed its frigate escorts before taking on the lone cruiser. The Xanatos took the three ships head on and emerged victorious.

After the routing of Covenant forces from the Sol system in 2555, ONI declared the crew of the Xanatos renegades and charged them with treason. Instead of complying with the charges, the Spartan-Commander fought its way from New Constantine, crippling two cruisers and repelling boarders.

The treason of the Xanatos and her crew coincided with the surge in the rebellion throughout UNSC territories. ONI suppression teams found that their Spartan III troops turned upon them and joined in the rebellion. Entire planets and systems were engaged in fresh conflicts against the UNSC with Spartan cells joining in the endless round of warfare.

The Xanatos preyed on UNSC supply lines for months before a special task group were formed to hunt them down.

[2] Saturn Armouries Special .66 "The Stomper"

A civilian handgun used against big game, this weapon became used unofficially when against Brutes and Hunters due to its tremendous strength. The weapon is a close copy to the military's M6 with a slight modification in its gas output to handle its recoil.

Editor's note:

Welcome, readers, to my story, "Spartan of Zero". Here would be my own interpretation of Madork Gunna's Necron Familiar challenge. Obviously this is not Warhammer 40,000 but rather Halo entering into the world of "Zero no Tsukaima" or "Familiar of Zero".

Here Saito is a Spartan III belonging to a renegade faction in the post-Covenant War. While the reason for his betrayal is not stated yet, it would be elaborated later in the series. I have plotted another story related more to Spartan-Commander Samuel in my other main project.

The story would be diverging heavily from canon materials due to the new Saito. I would also be using my own interpretation of ZnT canon for story sake. So I guess its pretty AU in some points.

I'll also apologise for the raping of the French language and I beg forgiveness for any language errors.

This has been in my head for months ever since Madork presented this challenge forward. This is my first fan-fic and my first series attempt to write fiction after graduating from high school so this would be a bit rusty, expect grammar problems.

Authors run on reviews like Charlie Sheen runs on crack!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Halo and Familiar of Zero does not belong to me. However, if the opportunity arises where I can claim those franchises in a bloody coup, I shall do it with all haste.

Edited 13/3/2013

**Author's Note:**

Thank you for reading another chapter. This one took longer writing than I thought. I would like to thank Guardian of the Box and his story "A Still More Glorious Dawn Awaits" for the inspiration with Tabitha. I also like to apologise for copying a few lines of text from Baka-Tsuki's translation of the light novel.

The most painful thing about writing this chapter was the cutting out of a few scenes which I think is interesting but doesn't fit the overall tone of the chapter. First time writing a story with an ACTUAL plot and not some one-shot done for English course. Forgive me again for some off moments.

Fanfiction is srs bs. *srsface*

I must say this now, the story is going to be more character orientated due to the new Saito and so not everything is going to be rosy and cheery like in the anime. Frankly, I was quite disappointed with a few things in the Familiar of Zero anime. I cringed quite a lot while watching the anime, especially the way Colbert survived and just coincidently saved the day.

I hated that.

So expect major plot derails, character deaths and a whole lot of nastiness before it gets any better. Basically FoZ gets GrimDarked.

Don't think that Spartan Saito would curb stomp everything. A story would be boring without some conflict in the game. Remember, any action has a reaction. So expect antagonists to step up their game because of a potent threat to their evil plans.

Also, since I'm an awful person at heart, I would not be releasing this regularly. Why you ask? Well, I'm just awful

Also, Microsoft Word spell check sucks like shit.

**Madork Gunna:** I'm honoured for you to review this and I'll make sure that my stories are up to that challenge.

**Sigma-del-Prisium: **Got your characters mixed up. Samuel and Saito are different characters. Sorry to get you confused. Samuel is the commander of the ship and leads Theta-Company, which Saito is part of.

**Tavarian Ovarius:** At last, someone who commented on the French *cringe*. Sorry about that, yeah, online translations are a bitch. Thank you for pointing that out, I'll use yours for my reedit in the future. Thanks for your comment.

Review for the Review God! Fanfics for his Fanfic Throne!

* * *

><p>Louise woke up and groaned. Yesterday's event was not a dream.<p>

Her familiar, Saito, had already woken up. She wondered if he had slept at all. _Had he been staring at me through that blank face all night?_

He had not properly addressed her as she had woken up. It was unbecoming for a noble woman like her to be not greeted as she deserved in the morning. There must be discipline.

"Address me, commoner!" she ordered. It was time to show him his place.

He did nothing.

"Stop fighting, dog, you are mine to command." Louise ordered.

The Spartan stopped and glared at the young magician. Louise stood defiant against the stare, but inside, she shivered at the blank inhuman visor. It appeared as if there was nothing inside, only a soulless automaton. It was unsettling.

"No" Saito merely stated.

Louise twitched and felt the urge to use the whip. _How dare he show me, Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière, defiance! I am a noble! An aristocrat! And this…thing dares to disobey my orders!_

She shook that thought. It would do nothing against its armour. Last nights "session" proved that it was a useless attempt. "Why don't you listen to me you…you…commoner?"

Saito sighed and then turned to his "master". "Good morning _master_. What would you want me to do today?"

That sounded so forced and bloody patronising.

Louise brought her hand to her face and groaned in frustration. Perhaps there was a spell somewhere…

* * *

><p>Nobody moved.<p>

It was not the fact that a golem familiar had taken a mage hostage, but rather, it _could _actually do such an act. This goes against everything they have been told of since they were young.

A familiar were not to turn against their masters.

"I repeat myself, tell me where I am, and she goes free."

Louise almost wet herself in fear if it wasn't for her immense reserve of pride.

_She was a mage! A Vallière!_

She almost blurted that out if it wasn't for the cold barrel of the gun pressed against her head. She gulped down her retort. That thing looked as if it could tear a person's head clean off from their shoulders.

Self-preservation triumphed before pride. She kept her mouth shut.

Saito scanned the faces of the children. They were unarmed except with small sticks of wood and an odd assortment of animals. The middle-aged man, most likely the teacher, held a long staff. The older man had a look of panic on his bespectacled face.

He slowly walked towards Saito, his arms opened to show he meant no harm.

"Golem, put down your master, I command you!"

Saito concentrated his gaze at the professor. "You are not my master! We have fought for independence against its tyranny! The UNSC would not make us their slaves again!"

Bemused, the man calmly answered "We are not tyrants, or whatever is this…Ooenessee. This is the country of Tristain. We are a peaceful nation. Please release the girl."

Saito's eyes glared through his visor. "You lie!" He swept his gun around to face the professor. "I demand to know which planet I'm on and a ship to get off it."

Colbert tensed up as the firearm pointed towards him. In his past life, he was a soldier. Facing death was a part of life for him. He went into a combat pose, staff held firmly in his grasp.

"Please, I do not know what you are talking about but please releas-"

It was then Louise attempted to use her magic.

With the gun not pointed at her head, she had tried to use a minor force spell to push herself off the Spartan to escape. However, as is consistent with Louise the "Zero", it did not work as intended. Needless to say, the results were spectacular.

The explosion blew up Saito's energy shielding and pushed him back several meters and he landed on the ground. His handgun flew beyond his grasp. Alarms ringed inside his helmet and flashing red lights warned him of his vulnerability. He had not expected something like this to happen. Where had the little minx gotten the ability to take down a Spartan?

Louise was singed but unharmed as she had used a directional blast. But the force of it blew her away into the opposite direction. Without dignity, she landed on the ground face down and yelled out in pain.

Colbert took this opportunity to cast a paralysis spell at the Spartan. Saito was in the process to get out his boot knife and attack the older male when he felt his body went stiff.

_Not again!_

He knew it was not his armour malfunctioning as his HUD was still functional and his shields were recharging. It was his body, it was frozen stiff.

"What is this? What are you people?" Saito yelled out. Colbert walked up to the Spartan, his staff pointed raised. His face was a mask of calculated calm but his eyes were boiling with contained rage.

"No, it is you who are to answer. Who are you?" Colbert demanded, his staff unwavering.

Saito laughed. "Have the UNSC lost its senses? I know they were never forthright with information to the public, but even the most uninformed civilian know of the Spartans."

"What are you talking about? What is this "Ooenesee"?"

From the professor's face, Saito immediately knew that he was telling the truth. "You have not heard of the UNSC?"

Colbert shook his head and from the looks of the children, they were just as confused as their teacher.

"What about the Covenant, Reach, the UEG?" The words gave them further blank stares. "Please tell me you heard of Earth at least?"

"Earth, "Colbert said. "As in one of the elements of magic, that Earth?"

_Magic? Four elements?_

"Magic? What the hell are you talking about?"

Colbert looked as if he had been struck by a Warthog. It was almost impossible for a person to _not _know magic. From the lowliest plebeians to high-class nobles, magic has been the pillar of society in Helkeginia for over six thousand years.

"You're not from this world are you?" he said with a hint of curiosity. "I must ask you, are you a man?"

"If you mean this planet, yes, I'm off world, even if I don't know where this place is in the first place. And to answer your second question, yes, I am a human beneath this suit."

Louise had gotten up with the help from a red-haired, busty, Germanian female. She then pried her arms off, she needed no help. _Especially from a Germanian witch!_

She turned to stare at the confrontation between Professor Colbert and her…familiar. She could not believe what had just happened. Her familiar had attacked her!

She suddenly felt the need to whip something.

"This land is called Helkeginia, if that's what you mean. Currently you are in Tristein's Academy of Magic." Colbert said.

None of those places meant anything to Saito. But the word "magic" was thrown around without any context. The girl's explosive charge and the paralysis were not enough evidence that "magic" exists. For all Saito know, this was some sort of cult with access to advanced technology. That wouldn't be the first time that had happened.

Saito pondered on the events that led up to his predicament. The last place he recalled was aboard the _Xanatos. _The Halcyon-class cruiser was crippled by the three frigates and then boarded by ODSTs. He remembered the boarding action, the fighting on deck three.

He remembered his paralysis and the sight of the ODSTs taking down Dan. He wanted to strike out but his defective armour made him blind and helpless. Spartan-Commander Samuel must have escaped into slipspace; he remembered being blown out of the _Xanatos_ and into its cold embrace.

It was an unsettling experience.

"If you are indeed a man, show us your face," Colbert asked.

"Sorry, frozen," he shrugged which didn't show, due to the restraints. "Look, we seemed to have gotten off at a bad start. But can you please release me from…whatever this is?"

Colbert stared at the fallen Spartan "I cannot set you free, lest you harm my students."

"I apologize for that, I was unsure of where I am and overacted. So can you please release me now?"

Wary, Colbert gripped the staff tighter. He thought over this and then decided. "If I release you, promise me that you would never harm the students."

Saito nodded. "Done."

The professor raised his staff.

Saito felt his bonds slackened. He stood up and stretched his neck felt a satisfying crack as his muscles loosened. It felt good to be free.

"Helmet," the professor said. "Remember our deal."

Saito thought for a second. Should he honour it?

Certainly there was nothing that could hurt him, he could attack now and find a way out of here. But then again, for a lack of a better word, the magician could've finished him off when he was down. He decided that there was no harm in trying to forge better relations with potential allies.

Saito then moved his hand the seals underneath his helmet and clasped it. It gave a sound of escaped air as it depressurised. He removed his Mark IV helmet and showed them all what was underneath.

They all gasped. The Spartan's face was a mask of scars and burns. The students cringed at the ghastly sight of scar-tissues criss-crossing his face. His left side was pink and puffy, a legacy from a glancing plasma bolt. There was no doubting that, even without his armour, he was a formidable warrior.

And he was human.

"Satisfied?" he said to Colbert.

"Yes." He nodded, staring at the man's abused face.

"Now, what do you want me to do?"

"You would accompany me to the headmaster's office." His face showed that he would not brook any argument.

_He would make a fine soldier_, Saito thought.

Feeling as if she was pushed to the sidelines, Louise interjected. "This is my familiar! Where he is going depends on me! I control this filthy com-I mean-familiar! Not you!"

Saito just stared at the little girl, not sure what to say. What is a familiar? What did it mean by control? He gave a look of puzzlement at the professor but the man just shook his head.

"Miss Vallière, you can accompany us as is your right as master. Please try not to interrupt or blow anything up in the process."

Louise nodded, satisfied that the professor acknowledged that the strange man was her familiar. Saito still looked blank.

"As for everyone," he addressed the crowd. "Go back to your classes! We have spent far too long outside."

Hesitantly, the second years went towards their classes, puzzled and bewildered. None of them would forget this day, when Louise de Vallière summoned a crazed armoured man into Tristain's Academy of Magic.

* * *

><p>The headmaster nursed his cheek where Longueville had slapped him.<p>

_That slap still hurt, why was she being such a prude?_ Osmond mused. _It was just some harmless teasing._

Contrary to popular believe, Headmaster Osmond was not as senile as people had thought him to be. He had draped himself in the disguise so he could seek refuge in audacity. It meant lowering of guards so that his enemies could underestimate him. Also, it became a convenient excuse to skip on paperwork.

He reached through his drawers and fumbled for something sweet. After all, what use is to be a powerful head magician who couldn't enjoy the small things in life?

After a long while of searching (the desk was fitted with a space extension charm) Osmond finally found his prize. "Ah, I found it!"

He held out the lemon drop between his fingers as if it were a precious jewel. "Look what I finally found, Chuchu," he said to his familiar, "the last lemon drop!"

The mouse squeaked in acknowledgment. Osmond stroked his familiar with a finger. "I'm going to put it in my mouth and there's nothing anyone can do to stop me."

There was a knock on the door. The voice of his secretary, Miss Longueville spoke. "Headmaster, there are some matters of emergency we need to speak of."

_Things are not going my way._

"What is it, Longueville?" he said, dearly wishing to taste the delicious lemon drop.

"Professor Colbert wants to see you, he says it's urgent. It involves Miss Vallière and her familiar."

He groaned. "What has she done this time?"

"I honestly don't know how to explain it, headmaster. I think you should ask Professor Colbert that."

Sighing, he put down the lemon drop away. There would be time later. "Send them in."

The door opened and Professor Colbert walked in with Louise and her…_what in Holy Founder is that?_

The person in question was a very large man wearing a very large suit of armour. Osmond would've sworn that he was a golem if it had worn that helmet tucked under his arm. What drawn his attention to him was his face. Its scalp was shaven and its jaw was sculptured as if from stone, like the fabled statues lining the Romalian capital.

However, the features were marred by the large scars and burns. What was especially distracting was the red patchy skin on the left side of his face which looked as if it was plastered with artificial skin.

"Headmaster," Colbert addressed. "We may have a problem."

"And who is this gentleman here, if I may so ask?" said Osmond, eyeing the stranger suspiciously.

Colbert answered. "This, headmaster, is Louise de Vallière's familiar. She summoned him during the ritual," he paused, choosing his words carefully "then proceeded to take Miss Vallière hostage. We managed to come into an agreement and so no one was hurt."

Suddenly his lemon drop was forgotten, Osmond stared sharply at the armoured man and then to Louise.

"What?" he exclaimed.

Louise cleared her throat and said. "This commoner happened to be my familiar by some error in my summoning. I ask you to please, let me redo the rituals to receive my rightful familiar, most preferably one that of a docile, powerful and beautiful, like a dragon or a Griffon!"

Osmond raised an eyebrow. "And just how did you summon this," he glanced towards the armoured man, which was standing patiently and with a slightly bemused expression "such an _interesting_ familiar?"

Louise shrugged. "I do not know, headmaster."

He turned towards the Spartan. "Who are you, stranger, and how did you arrive in Tristain?"

Technically, he was not supposed to give away details away like this, but since his allegiance was switched, he didn't need to keep his lip shut from sensitive information. But he had been defying and breaking UNSC law anyway for the past few years. Usually and often with a weapon at hand.

"My name is Saito 432, Spartan III Theta-Company, formerly of the UNSC military. As for how I arrived here, I frankly don't know. The last thing I remembered was that I was aboard my ship when we were attacked. My commander escaped into slipspace and…well here I am." Saito answered.

The magicians in the room had so many things to say. Dozens of questions were forming in their minds as Saito's words sunk in.

"So Saito 432, what is this "Ooenesee", is this some sort of country? You spoke that you were in a ship when you were attacked, is your country far away?" Osmond asked with peaked interest.

"The UNSC," Saito said with contempt "is an acronym for the United Nations Space Command. This is the government in which I was part of. It is a coalition of hundreds of planets beyond the stars, all colonised with humans. The ship I was in allows me to cross the gulf of space between planets and slipspace allowed us to travel in a short amount of time."

Colbert interrupted him. "Preposterous! There is no such thing. Who would believe that an entire culture of people could live all the way up in the sky?"

"Professor, please sit down." Osmond ordered in a quiet voice. Colbert seemed to notice his interruption and sat down sheepishly. "Please continue."

"I was a soldier in its military as part of the Spartan program. Where I came from, the UNSC had been engaged in a thirty-year war against an alien hegemony known as the Covenant. It was a devastating war, billions die and entire planets were burned. "

"Why did this war start?" the headmaster asked.

"I don't have any idea. ONI guessed that it had something to do with their religion. They see us as "heretics" and that we "despoiled" their god's holy artefacts. All we know is that we are plunged into a war of extermination, genocide."

It was Louise turn to speak. "I'm unfamiliar with that word, "genocide". What does it mean?"

"It means to destroy a nation or an ethnic group. And when I mean destroy, I meant _everything _and _everyone_, down to the youngest babe and the oldest man." Saito answered.

"Genocide", "extermination", these words did not make sense to her. What use is to completely _exterminate _every single one of your enemies, including women and children? How can a race dictate to another race that their entire specie was to be wiped out due to the crimes of merely existing?

What kind of elemental force could allow _billions_ to be killed just like that?

Louise looked around the room; she had expected Colbert and Osmond to have the same look of horror. Instead, she only found sadness, they had heard of these things before. Colbert had done…things…in his army days that had caused him great shame, even to this day. Both Colbert and Osmond knew enough of their histories, of their "glorious" founding father and holy founder, Brimnir, to know that nothing was different even in another world.

_Black, pathetic shapes huddled together. Villagers burnt crisp by the inferno…_

Colbert shook his head. They were in the past.

"And what was the outcome of this war?" Osmond asked. He felt uneasy hearing of this.

"We won, I guess" Saito shrugged "though how I don't really know. Somehow, we made allies with one of the enemy factions who had split off from the Covenant. There was a civil war going on for them and so the Covenant doesn't exist. We moved in and gained the initiative."

Colbert added his own observations. "You said "formerly" part of the military, and you said you were part of the UNSC. Does this mean you're retired?"

Saito chuckled which unnerved the room. "I did not retire, professor, I rebelled."

This shocked everyone. "Y-you rebelled?" Louise said.

He craned his head towards Louise and looked into her eyes. "Yes, I rebelled, and I have not regretted it since. You would not want to hear the things I had done under the UNSC, nor the way they had justified it in the name of justice. I would like to not be pressed into that part of my life. The UNSC is finished. Civil war bloomed in our planets as well as those of our former enemies. My commander ordered us to create our own destiny and we complied."

The Spartan's tone had darkened and this was a sign meaning that there was to be no further conversation on that particular subject. Colbert and Osmond understood that one must have secrets that needed to be protected.

Louise, however, was too incensed about her familiar not telling her everything. She was to speak her thoughts out when she caught the icy cold look on Saito's face. For the second time that day, common sense triumph over pride. She pursed her lips and willed her body not to shout out.

Saito decided to ask a question of his own. "I have told you of my story, now it is my turn to ask you my questions."

"What do you wish to know?" Osmond asked.

"I wish to know where I am, and what is "magic"?"

Osmond stared at the Spartan as if he had just grown an extra head. "You do not know what is magic?" he said with incredulity.

"Where I came from, magic does not exist."

Osmond shook his head in amazement. Could there be an entire civilisation of billions living beyond the stars living without the use of magic? "Forgive me but…this is quite a lot to take in."

"I think we are in the same position." Saito remarked.

"Tell me, Saito, where would you go now?"

Saito sighed. "I was hoping that you would know. Do you have the means to get off this world and back to mine?"

Osmond sat back and toyed with his beard. "I'm sorry Saito, but I can do nothing. But there is a matter we need to discuss about you appearing here. You see, you are Louise's familiar and therefore you are her possession."

Saito lurched forward. "I'm to be her what?"

Osmond blanched and Colbert looked unsure how to act. Louise just held a mask of indignation.

"That is right," Louise said smugly. "You are my familiar, whether you like it or not! It is a magically binding contract, stating that you must become my servant! "

Saito stared at the girl as if she had turned into a cat. He wouldn't be surprised if she could, magic existed after all.

He then looked back at the two professors. "I'm to be _her_ servant?" He pointed at Louise, who was steaming with anger at the disrespectful treatment from her familiar. One can almost see the steam lines coming out of her head.

The professor and headmaster looked uncomfortable. "Yes," the headmaster said. "As long as you bear that mark in your hand, you and Miss Vallière are bound together as familiar and master."

"What if I refuse?"

"Well, we…don't know. This had never happened before. Whenever we summon a familiar, they were always loyal to their master. Today was the first time something like this happened. "

Saito was thinking. He was trapped in a world with backwards technology but gifted with fantasy-like magical powers. He has no means to return to his world, nor can he contact anyone for rescue. He could not fight his way out of this situation and there were no objectives for him to complete.

He was lost.

Then he pondered. What was there for him to return back? Every day was just another battle, another pointless death. Commander Samuel was designated a traitor along with the entire Theta-Company. The UNSC they had expended a lot of assets eliminating the rogue Spartans and were not afraid to expend more to eliminate them. Unrest bloomed across the human colonies.

He made a decision. Primary objective right now is to find safe haven and gather information on current whereabouts. When a base of operations could be found, Saito would contact Theta-company or any of the privateer forces willing to get the services of a lone Spartan.

"There is no way for me to go back. I could fight my out, but that would be counter-productive, not to mention stupid."

He turned to Louise. "I guess I'm to be your familiar."

* * *

><p>The two walked silently through the castle. Saito had been told by Osmond that the students would be unnerved to see his helmet's blank visor. His scarred face would be a better alternate for him.<p>

"Over here, servant," Louise motioned towards the door by the end of the corridor.

She opened the door to reveal a well furbished room. There was a four poster bed, a table and a few chairs. It was certainly bigger than any room Saito had been in. The accommodations aboard the _Xanatos _were not exactly spacious.

It seemed so…burgoise.

Louise sat down on a chair. She tilted her head and examined the Spartan with a look of contempt. "You took me hostage," she said simply.

"Yes I did. I apologise again, that was a mistake and-"

Louise whipped him with a riding crop. He did not expect that.

"You dog! You are my familiar and you made me the fool in front of everyone!" The whipping continued.

Saito after all this time stood against the barrage of attacks. In all honesty, he did not know what to do. He never dealt with a young teen that has an ego the size of a super-carrier. He knew he was supposed to do something. But apparently, he was her familiar, and he was to act like one. What a familiar actually entails him to do, however, was completely lost to Saito.

So he stood there and weathered the assault. It was a good thing that she was just up to his chest. He would hate to get that crop in his face. He had enough scars already.

"Stupid insolent dog!" She continued the verbal insult.

"Dirty Mongrel!"

"Good for nothing familiar and commoner!"

"Why did I not get a griffon or a dragon?!"

In another universe, Saito would've been balled up in pain, and maybe in pleasure, at the ferocious whipping from this pink haired girl.

He was getting tired of this and felt that Louise was too. Her attacks were less ferocious and her arm was tiring. She was panting more due to exertion and her face was red not from anger. In the end, Saito decided to intervene. "Stop now, child."

This seemed to get her even angrier, if there was such a thing. "How dare you call me a child? I am seventeen!"

Saito was surprised. "You're seventeen? I'm sorry; I thought that due to your size, that you were at the most, fourteen. I thought you were some sort of prodigy at your age. I apologize again."

That seemed to put her to the edge and Saito experienced further "beatings" from the fearsome riding crop.

After a long while, Louise stopped and panted. It seemed she had expended all her rage of the day towards Saito.

"Alright, I…will…I will think that I shall tell you what a familiar is supposed to do." Louise said, between breaths.

Saito listened intently, it was about time somebody tells him what his role is, even though it was coming in from his sadistic mistress. "Tell me."

"Say, "What is your will, o gracious master?""

Saito visibly cringed. "What is your will, o gracious…master?"

_Spoken like a true slave_, he thought bitterly. He almost expected her to order him to kowtow.

The look of triumph on her face could power a Halcyon-class cruiser. "Well, as a familiar, you are to act my every wish. It is a familiar's role to protect their master from harm while they cast their magic. I see you are a warrior and so you can do that job perfectly."

_Doesn't sound too bad._

"Also, another aspect of a familiar is to also perform personal service to their masters. This includes cooking, cleaning, laundry and attending to their needs. You got that, servant?"

_Wait, what?_

"So basically, you want me to be your personal slave?"

Louise had an indignant look on her face. "Of course not, we Halkerginian nobles would ever sloop so low as to use slavery. Forcing a human being into our service is beyond us."

He was confused. "Then what do you consider me as?"

"You are my familiar," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Familiars are not human beings and so do not count. You are summoned and bound by magic to be my servant."

"I…do not count as a human being?" Saito said amazed. In truth, he did not know whether or not to be amused or be seriously pissed. After all, he had spent the good years of his life fighting an alien juggernaut just because he was a human.

"Well, you are technically a human. But you are foremost my familiar, human second."

Saito merely sighed. This day was too strange for him to comprehend and so he just wished for it to end.

"I guess I am your…familiar, master." He said reluctantly.

She beamed. "Good that you understand your place. It is late and I do not want to be tardy for breakfast. I'm off to sleep."

"Hold on, I see a sudden lack of beds, where do you expect me to sleep?"

"You are a familiar and a useless commoner, you are to sleep here." She pointed down.

The floor was wooden but was laced with straws for warmth. It didn't look any comfortable for anyone to sleep in. But then again, he was a Spartan; he had slept in worse places before. It sure beats muddy trenches.

Louise then brought her hand up to the top button of her blouse. One by one, the buttons came undone. Soon she was down to her underwear.

Saito raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

Louise answered as if it was the most obvious thing. "I'm going to sleep, so I'm getting changed."

Saito just shrugged. He was used to seeing his brothers and sisters from Theta-Company undress during trainings and group showers. But he knew that social rules outside the military dictate that you should not undress while in the presence of a stranger.

"Oh, and these. Wash them for me tomorrow." Several items came flying over to land softly beside him. He picked them up, wondering what they were.

A lacy camisole and matching panties. He blinked.

Did she want to make a statement with flinging undergarments at him? Perhaps she wants him to keep it as a sign of his loyalty? A local custom perhaps?

"That's for you tomorrow. I want you to clean it for me. You're my familiar, right? Laundry, cleaning, other menial tasks - they're naturally your job."

She slipped into her bed and pulled the covers. "Oh, and nights out." She clicked her fingers and the lamp went out.

The lamplight was magic too, it seemed.

Saito realised he was still holding Louise's undergarments in his gauntlets. He flung them away in disgust. This was hardly fitting with the image of a Spartan.

_How the mighty had fallen,_ he thought bitterly.

He sighed. The darkness was not a necessary hindrance due to the augmentation of the Spartan. He was able to see in the dark quite clear.

It just so happens, the twin moons on this planet were in full bloom. He had to admit that looking at them, one bright purple and the other shining silver, was strikingly beautiful. In fact, he had to confess to himself that he felt…peaceful. It was not a feeling that was commonly experienced in the Spartan's mind.

That, ironically, unnerved him.

He did not feel safe enough to get himself out of his armour. It would have to be morning before he would even get a proper maintenance. The glitches in his HUD were becoming a nuisance and so he took down a variety of interfaces to smooth processing power. Shielding too was pulled out, and so he had to rely on the armour to protect him.

He made sure that the Stomper was held in its leather holster. The trophy weapon was his only firearm he had access to and almost impossible to scrounge for ammunition. He needed to conserve it for emergencies.

Saito could remember the first time he had met the weapon. He remembered the surprised look on the ONI agent's face as a Spartan appeared to end him. Saito remembered the tremendous bang as it impacted in its shields. It had actually managed to knock him back a few inches. Not bad.

He had taken the Stomper away from the dead agent. The weapon felt satisfying in his hands, almost soothing.

Now Saito had to rely more on basic knife work. He slid his combat knife out and stared as the moon light reflected on its bright metal. Normally, he would have dulled it so that there would not be light coming off it.

Saito never really did much with knife work. Other members of the Spartan family were more adapt to hand-to-hand combat. Lily was one; he remembered the sight of the bald headed girl, the youngest out of all of them. She was a master at killing at close range, only matched by Dereck and his stolen energy blade.

He wondered now, what had happened to his brothers and sisters out there? Where they slaughtered as they entered slipspace? They should at least have died fighting, like a true Spartan.

He then wondered. _Would he ever find his way out of here?_

He needed some sleep. His "mistress" wanted him to do the laundry. It was all he could do to stop himself from immolating the entire castle. With a sigh, he placed his helmet back on and began to sleep. And dream.

* * *

><p>The old man was dying, Saito noted. The bio scanner in his HUD clearly showed that his heart rate was slowing down at a dangerous pace.<p>

The bloodied hole in his chest was also an excellent indication as well.

"I…I deny you…invader."

The old man had crawled from the main cave complex. Saito tracked the blood stains leading to the tunnels. He did not raise any hostilities when the Spartan approached, just a small sigh.

"Why…why have you come here to fight?" He managed to gasp out weakly.

Saito was impassive. It was his job not to be sympathetic to those he killed. The old man was just another number in his kill tally in his short life as a Spartan. He had now amassed a kill streak of triple digits.

Blood was pooling onto the sands of Kuru Kum, the great desert continent of Bir Yerde. It had been a quick operation; deal with secessionists holding out in their mountain strongholds. For a year, the rebels had been harassing the local UNSC garrison, pulling important assets from the units earmarked for the Eastern Rim theatres.

The local defence forces had been less than competent in flushing out the resistance. Desertion rates among the colonial militia were high with entire companies turning over to the other side.

It seemed that the cost of using regular marine and army units were too much and time consuming. Covenant offensives were threatening the rest of the Outer Colonies and the loss of Admiral Cole was a huge blow for the UNSC.

So they sent in the Spartans.

It had been quick, efficient and devastating. They needed no preliminary bombardment by clumsy artillery, no extensive lines of logistics, and needed no permanent bases. They needed no sleep and very little food.

They had acted with precision, with Theta-Company deployed throughout the mountainous regions of Bir Yerde. Each stronghold was systematically destroyed by the Spartans. All prisoners were executed on the spot; they had no time to waste.

Kuru Kum was cleared in a week.

"You have rebelled from the UNSC," Saito stated calmly to the dying man "therefore you have turned from humanity."

The old man merely smiled and laughed. The laugh turned into a violent cough as blood specked out of his mouth. Death was near. "You fascists, we have fought for freedom against your oppression. You invaders have come all the way here and take our food and our children, to feed the UNSC war machine. We do not want to fight your wars; we just want to be left alone."

"The Covenant fights against humanity, not just the UNSC. We fight for what's the best for humanity."

"And do you believe that?" The old man gave a sad look towards the Spartan. "How many of my people have you killed, how many of my family? We just want to be left alone."

Saito did not answer. A ping in his HUD showed that someone was trying to contact him. Saito activated the unit radio. "Theta-3, here."

A grizzled mechanical voice answered him, it sounded like a man chewing glass. "This is Theta-1, all purging operations are completed. Army units are en route to sweep for stragglers. A Falcon will pick you up."

"Affirmative, Theta-3 is in the process of finishing off the insurrectionists."

"Do not waste time on needless killing, the _Xanatos_ departs in 0200 hours. Make sure you get back, Saito." The radio link went dead.

Saito turned over to face the old man. He pulled out his sidearm, an M6D, and raised it towards him. The old man face's betrayed no emotions whatever, just a dejected look of resignation. "Finish me; there is nothing left for me."

"Die well." He pulled the trigger.

A single gunshot echoed through the cave.

* * *

><p><strong>Lexicon<strong>

**Spartan-Commander**

The rank of a Spartan-Commander is a special rank given for the Spartan III as a way to bypass the power struggles between ONI, the UNSDF and the UEG. This allowed the Spartan III program to have jurisdictions over the navy, army and intelligence agencies.

They are the equivalent of an Upper Rear-Admiral in the navy and a Major-General in the army. However, due to the power blocs in the UNSC hierarchy, higher ranking commanders would be subservient towards Spartan-Commanders due to intimidation from their patrons. This essentially turns a Spartan III task force into an independent formation, answering only to their political masters.

The most powerful would be the Spartans under Parangosky, the head of ONI Section-3. Spartan-Commander Samuel was taken out of Ackerson's original Spartan III group after Operation Torpedo to lead Theta-Company. During this time, he forged Parangosky's Spartans into an effective, if brutal, fighting force. He took not only Covenant War orphans but victims of UNSC reprisals into his ranks.

Spartan-Commanders usually command naval ships for their own use. These are important assets which are not to be easily commandeered. They would be hard-pressed to acquire anything larger than a Halcyon-class Cruiser. Often, ONI provides prowlers for the commander's use. Most use them as insertion crafts to send small teams behind lines for subterfuge missions. However, commanders who favour shock tactics employ larger ships.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Author's Notes**

I have to thank Baka-Tsuki for their translation of the LN. I admit, I copied a large chunk of text from their translations, for the classroom scene, and am forever grateful for their help. Seriously, having the original source material available to you on a platter without major edits is probably one of the best things for a lazy writer.

I'm a lazy bastard, get over it.

I mixed pieces from the anime and the LN translation so there would be scenes that would be anime exclusive and from the novels. So far, this has been following canon and it would take a while till it changes. Frankly, I'm having a hard time changing the fluff because this means plenty of the features from FoZ would have to change.

Note that the story is not a slash fic and would not have romances of any kind. My black heart is just too hate-driven for any romantic interactions between the characters. Well for Saito at least, but others might. What happens in this chapter is just for the sake of the story. Saito is not a complete monster and that is what I'm trying to show.

There are some inconsistencies in the spelling for "Bremir", different sources say different spelling and so be aware of different spellings throughout the story.

The reason for Colbert not discovering the Gandalfr rune is because that it is underneath Saito's armour, he can't see it.

To those who think that Spartan Saito is too compliant to Louise's whims, this is because of his need to be integrated into a world he does not know. Also because of certain plot related stuff. This was one of my main problems with the character; I had trouble writing him to move a certain way to follow certain parts of the canon so as to expand the story.

I experimented with brain washing due to the runes on his hand, but I took that out. So I made Saito very reluctant in following her orders. Hey, I tried folks.

Also, I'm going to piss a lot of scientists off with my very general explanations of elements. Seriously, even though I have limited knowledge of the subject, "elements" and "magic" really irks the more rational side of me, which is ironic due to my irrational and sociopathic nature.

I'm not that popular among Harry Potter fans.

Next chapter shall be all compulsory Guiche duel, and I'm planning to shove a few pegs down on that arrogant prick. The release for the next chapter would be quick because I chopped up several long scenes

Just saying, anyone reading Kim Newman's "Anno Dracula"? ^_^

Remember, review, or else Slaanesh will dip a kitten in cocaine and eat it.

* * *

><p>I do not own Halo or FoZ. That would be my evil twin, please send all complaints and death-threats to him.<p>

* * *

><p>"<em>You are not going to turn back are you, Saito?" She said calmly, face-to-face to her brother.<em>

_The boy, barley in his teens, shook his head sadly. "Too much had been done; you of all people should know that."_

_She stood there stalwart, unfazed with the prospect of ending her kin. "Go figures, you of all people, siding with the Commander?"_

"_I made a decision and I'm going to stick by it, Julie." He stated. _

_Even though her head was covered in the helmet, the boy knew she was frowning with disappointment. "It doesn't have to end this way."_

"_I'm sorry, Julie, it does." He said with finality._

* * *

><p>Saito had woken up not long before Louise. The sleep was the best he had in many months. He had ended up sleeping inside his armour due to his paranoia. His combat knife was held in his hands just in case somebody tried sneaking up to him. As it turned out, nobody was stupid enough to attack him in his sleep.<p>

Now he was to face the little pink-haired she-devil he had to call "master". "Why, don't you listen to me…you…you…commoner?"

_Here we go…_

He sighed and said what she wanted to hear with the greatest reluctance he could muster. "Good morning _master_. What would you want me to do today?"

She seemed to get his sarcasm as Louise had the look of frustration etched on her face. For a minute, Saito readied himself for another round of whipping.

"Get that helmet off, when you address your master; you should do it with your face!"

Saito clasped his helmet off and stared at her, distaste on his face. He had to give the girl credit; she did not recoil from the look like normal people. She had an immense reserve of pride which he had to grudgingly respect.

"Now help me change out of my night gown."

Fatigue must have seeped into him. He swore she wanted him to change into her night gown. Unfortunately, Louise was looking at him expectantly as if she was waiting for him to do something. That must meant that his sanity was intact, and indeed, she wanted him to help her undress.

"Well?" She said, tapping her foot.

"I'm sorry; did you just say help you dress?"

"Well of course, you do not expect a noblewoman to just dress herself do you?" Louise said.

"Can't you just do it yourself?" Saito asked. He banished the desire to smother the little girl, but that would just cause problems later on. Right now, he needed allies not enemies.

"No, I must have a servant to help me."

"Are you seriously 17?" He enquired, raising an eyebrow.

Her face turned into a shade of red. "Of course I'm 17! I-I'm just a late bloomer! I'll have you know all the women in my family are all beautiful…and tall…and has really, really big chests!" She puffed.

Saito was not budging; he continued to stare down at his erstwhile "master". She was really just barley up to his chest. It made staring down at her much more annoying. "Look, I am not going to dress you," he said in his calmest voice, "I'm sure you can just do it yourself like a grown woman."

_If you can call yourself that._

A Spartan's role is to be an independent killer, only relying on your comrades to support you. Saito would never ask a fellow Spartan to put on his armour if he can do it himself. Something as trivial as clothing irked the Spartan in him.

She pouted. "Fine, useless commoner, I'll dress myself. You would do a terrible job anyway, if your face is any indication."

"Resorting to "your face" jokes now, "master"?"

"Shut up!" She retorted eloquently.

* * *

><p>She pretended not to care.<p>

It was unbecoming for a mage, and most importantly, a noble, to even be attracted towards a commoner. A familiar nonetheless, it was akin to be attracted to a dog. It was acceptable for one to show admiration for one's familiar, it simply reflects well back on master's status. The more impressive the summoned creature, the more respect the magician receives.

Like a dragon, now that was a familiar to be in awe of.

How in holy Bremir did that blue-haired recluse, Tabitha, gotten hold of such a magnificent specimen as a familiar? For Founder's sake! She had an even smaller chest than her!

Now she was stuck with a completely useless familiar that held her hostage within minutes of his summoning. What kind of master loses control of their servant?

So when Saito began removing his armour and revealed his body, Louise pretended not to care.

It was hard to believe that beneath the suit of armour, such a well chiselled specimen of humanity existed. Sure, she saw marble statues of the ancient Helios civilisation with their well-proportioned muscles and perfectly toned body, but she had always thought that they were exaggerations of the real thing.

She watched him slowly dissembled his armour, at first she had looked with curiosity, at the unique style of armour Saito was equipped with. She had to admit, it was completely light-years away from the armour worn on her world.

Then as he removed his chest plate, Louise could not help but stare. His muscles were not large to the point of grotesque, but enough to make most warriors cry in shame. Broad back, toned abs, developed muscles…

He removed his black under suit. She stared.

Scars, burns, stich marks and other unidentifiable wounds crisscrossed his body. Some overlapping each other it formed an unidentifiable mess of scar-tissue. One especially eye catching one was the fist-sized burn on his chest. It appeared as if someone had struck him down with a fire spell. He was already intimidating enough with his helmet off.

He really did fight in wars…

She chastised herself mentally. She was a noble, damn it! She would not be enchanted by the sight of a brutalised commoner!

"Looking at something you like?"

Louise snapped out of her reveille. "Huh?"

"You were staring at me, Louise." _Like a hungry Brute_. He didn't add that part though; he had enough of her rampages.

"A-Ah, I was not staring at you or anything!" She blushed before adding "Stupid familiar! Besides, hurry up. It's almost breakfast in the hall. I need my morning sustenance."

"I'm doing maintenance on my armour, not that easy. Why don't you just go down stairs?"

"And being risked ridiculed by not having a familiar by my side, never!" She exclaimed.

Not completely sure of her answer, Saito just nodded and left it as it is and continued to work on his armour. This was getting too awkward for his liking and the silence between them was just playing on the tension.

Saito was working on an especially tricky piece of his armour. The left pauldron from the Brute Chieftain was going loose. He may need to find better facilities for repairing this part. Saito was mildly competent in rudimentary field repairs and crafting. He figured a forge would do.

To counter the situation, Louise decided to ask Saito a question "Was it all true? Did you really arrive from a different land that knew of no magic?"

Saito sighed and put down his pauldron armour, he was just about to polish the Brute chieftain's war piece. "Yes, where I come from, magic is but a fantasy. We have nothing which played on the laws of physics." Then he pondered, slipspace did technically make havoc on time relativity, but it could be countered by Sheng's theory of faster than light travel during the 23rd century.

"I cannot fathom a society that doesn't use magic," Louise said amazed. "Magic is the way the world works and the only thing separating civilisation and anarchy! How do your nobles and rulers keep the masses from revolting?"

"Yes, about that, we don't have nobles."

That took her back. "No nobles? What is keeping the peace between chaos and reality? How can any society exist if there are no barriers to keep the commoners in their place? No wonder you people have wars, there are nothing stopping them from happening."

He was a soldier not a historian, Saito thought back to the small amount of history he had gathered. "We have leaders but they are not formed by breeding but by merit. They are chosen from among the population who showed any ability to govern."

"More often than not, it is usually through influences and connections and wealth which a person can get into powerful positions. This way, powerful political dynasties are formed where power is recycled back into the family. That is not to be confused with an absolute monarchy, which is what your world is."

That confused Louise greatly "wait, wait, I do not understand. How can you just entrust power towards…commoners." She said the last word in disgust as if describing a certain type of rodent. "They're barely literate and can't act their own stations without someone telling them what to do."

"We did have nobles, but that was many hundreds of years ago. We don't have use for them anymore."

"What happened to them?" she asked, unbelieving that nobles would ever be out of use.

"We killed them." He said nonchalantly.

"YOU WHAT?" Louise screamed out. "I-never mind. Forget you armour. Wear something and come with me to the hall. Breakfast is starting."

Maybe food would drown that annoying migraine.

* * *

><p>Saito stared at the food arrayed against him. The entire hall had a number of long tables separated by year. Food stretched from one end to the other. An army regiment could eat till their hearts content. The Spartan found this immense waste of food distasteful, not to mention wasteful. He voiced this out loud.<p>

"Only the best for us nobles." Louise said with pride as if decadence was something to be proud of.

Saito kept his mouth shut. He was glad to have worn his Mjolnir armour instead of his black under suit. Louise had said something about being shameless and not fit for society wearing it. She had granted him time to put his armour back on. Just not his helmet.

"When in the presence of your betters, you are to show your face to them. It's a sign of respect." She had told him when Saito asked.

Louise walked down the aisle between the tables and headed for an empty chair in the second years section. A number of students looked up as Louise and Saito approached, they were whispering and muttering under their breaths. Saito's enhanced hearing picked up their conversations.

From what he heard, they were surprised that Louise had summoned a golem as her familiar and that he had turned against her. Now, when they saw that it was just a person underneath a suit of armour. They then turned from "golem" to "commoner" and said something about "lack of magic". There were mutterings of "the zero" which he assumed to be a title for Louise. Quite a few of those comments were quite cruel, Saito admitted.

"Hurry up and pull the chair back. You really are inconsiderate."

Saito rolled his eyes and slowly pulled the chair for Louise to sit. For a second, Saito had the thought to pull the chair completely away so that she would fall flat on her ass. As hilarious as it is to teach her a lesson, it was too childish for the Spartan, but that idea lingered on.

Louise coughed loudly in his direction. Saito turned his head around. "Is there a problem?"

"The problem is," she said smugly, "is that these sits are preserved for nobles. Commoners are not allowed to sit or eat with us."

"And where should I sit, not to mention, eat?"

Louise pointed down. Next to her chair, was a chipped plate. A single piece of bread and a glass of water lay there. He turned a questionable glance at Louise. "You have got to be kidding."

The glare said otherwise. "Just be glad that you are even here to eat with us nobles, you dirty commoner."

He would've just sadly done what she had wanted in another universe. But Saito was a Spartan, and he was hungry.

He had enough of her shit.

"No." He stated coldly. Around him, the students had eyed the duo and now gasped at Saito's defiance.

"You shall do what I command and sit!" She gestured with her finger like ordering a dog to kneel. He was not a dog.

Saito was aware of the looks the other students were giving them. He realised even the other tables were staring. A sudden chatter of voices erupted at this development. A few servants looked around nervously.

"I am sick and tired of your whining. I came down here for food and I'm going to sit down in this chair." Saito pulled up a chair and sat down. The chair made a noticeable creaking sound due to the Spartan's weight.

Louise was burning with anger. She looked as if she was on the verge of tears at this point. If looks could kill, the Covenant would be green with envy at the little witch's destructive prowess. Saito just crossed his arms and grinned underneath his armour.

A professor, a short portly woman in robes, came down to defuse the struggle. "Please, Miss Valliere, I'm sure we can accommodate your familiar. There is plenty of food to go around."

Louise slowly turned her head to face the teacher. She opened her mouth to argue more but her eyes then turned to the rest of the hall. The students were all staring or chuckling under their breath. Her cheeks turned bright red in embarrassment.

"Al-alright Professor Chevreuse, I may have…overreacted." She conceded; her face still red with embarrassment.

The professor sighed with relief, glad that the situation was over. "Alright then, your familiar is permitted to sit with us."

She turned to the hall. "Quick, children, go back to your breakfast. We shall begin our morning prayers."

Louise slumped down onto her chair and clasped her hands together for the Morning Prayer. All the other students did the same and then began the chant.

"_O great founder, Bremir, and Her Royal Highness, we are once again grateful for the humble meal that you have brought us this morning."_

Louise's knuckles were white as she dug her nails into her skin. She was merely mumbling the words out; her mind was too distracted with the image of her Spartan familiar.

When the prayer was finished, they began to dig into their food. Saito took a piece of bread and took a bite out of it. It was good; Saito wondered what type of herbs they put. It was better than the iron rations or processed nutrients he had back on the _Xanatos_. He made a mental note to compliment the chef.

"Hope you're happy, dog. You humiliated me in front of the entire school…again!"

Saito was definitely happy.

"A little." He took another bite from the bread.

* * *

><p>The courtyard was alive with small little critters of all sizes and types. Saito surveyed the collection of menagerie.<p>

"All second-year students have the morning off today. We're all supposed to communicate with all our freshly-summoned familiars."

"I think we did enough 'communication' already." Saito commented blandly.

"Well it's not my fault I got a useless familiar!" Louise countered.

"Oh, how was your honeymoon, newlyweds?" said a voice.

They turned around and saw a girl with flaming red hair. She was taller than Louise, but a head shorter than Saito. She gave off a strongly flirtatious aura. The top two buttons of her blouse were undone, highlighting an impressive cleavage which impulsively drew the eyes in. Her skin was tanned, giving her the look of healthy and natural beauty.

Her height, skin colour, bearing, and breast size... It all made for a strong contrast with Louise, who lacked in those charm points. Saito would've been attracted to her if he knew how; Spartan training bred all testosterone out of him. Any other male would've lapped up to her in an instant.

She was patting a large red lizard-thing the size of a Mongoose light vehicle. Its tail was tipped with flame, and its mouth emitted sparks and embers.

"This the first time seeing a Salamander?" the girl asked, seeing the look of amazement on the Spartan.

He shrugged. It was true that the lizard was unique but he saw more exotic wild fauna on other planets. Fighting a coalition of alien religious fanatics and being transported into a magical world makes even the most stuff seem mild in comparison.

"All I'm wondering is the flame on that tail. Is it dangerous to be waving that around?"

"Don't worry, Flame won't harm you. As long as I order it not to, it won't attack. Familiars are under contact, faithfully obey every order from their master, and they never run away." The last sentence was directed towards Louise.

"Don't give me that!" Louise retorted.

"You called a red Salamander with a flaming tail "flame"?" Saito asked. It was like calling a fish "fishy" or a hawk "hawky".

The new comer just laughed. "I am Kirche the Ardent. The ardent of gently smoldering passion. Everywhere I go, I have boys falling for me. Unlike you, right?"

Kirche puffed her chest out proudly. Not wanting to lose, Louise did the same, but the difference in volume was just too striking. Despite this, Louise glared at Kirche. It looked as if she really hated losing.

"I don't have the time to go around flirting with everything I see, unlike you."

Kirche only smiled calmly. Then, she turned to Saito. "What is your name, if you don't mind me asking? After all, it is not very pleasant for a woman to introduce herself without knowing who she is conversing with."

"Saito." He said simply.

"Saito?" she seemed to be tossing the word around her mouth, almost like she was slowly savouring a particularly tasty confectionary. "That is a…unusual name. Quite…exotic, don't you think?"

If Kirche thought that Saito would respond to her attempts at seduction, she was wrong. Sometimes Saito wondered what it would be like to be affected by your hormones.

"Well, Saito," she purred, "I would be seeing you later." She winked seductively and went off. The salamander followed her with a shuffling movement that looked odd with such a large creature.

As she disappeared, Louise shook a fist in her direction. "That Germanian wench, what is up with her?"

"You," she turned to Saito, "you-why didn't you stand up for your master!"

Saito shrugged. "I thought this morning was an indication on how much I really don't care for your petty attempts at superiority."

"W-well next time, do whatever you are supposed to do and protect your master!"

"I can hardly see some harmless verbal sparring as a requirement for having their limbs rend from their bodies. I understand I am to protect you from physical assaults."

"Gah!" Louise cried out to the heavens. "Why must you be so bloody infuriating?"

Saito did not reply to that question.

"Just…just come with me to class. I wasted the free morning arguing with a slut and a commoner."

He followed her inside the castle, wondering if he had made the right choice in following the small pink-haired magician.

* * *

><p>The classrooms in the Academy of Magic were similar to university lecture halls. And like everything else, they were constructed from stone. The lecturing teacher stood at the lowest level, and the seats were arranged upward like stairs.<p>

Saito found the whole arrangement quite interesting. He never had been into a proper school before. Before the Covenant attacked, the outer colony planet he grew up on were not exactly the best place for a child to grow up in. His education was fairly lacking, it was a wonder he could read by the age of 8.

When Saito and Louise entered, every student in the room simultaneously turned their heads towards them.

And then the laughter began.

Louise calmly ignored them and found a seat. Saito felt eyes bore into him. He was used to being gawped at. Being a Spartan automatically meant that you'll be different from the rest of humanity. But even here he was an outcast, the familiars were all animals and he was the only human.

The door opened, and the teacher entered. It was the same one who had defused the situation during breakfast. The woman gazed around the classroom and spoke with a satisfied smile.

"Well, everyone, it seems that the Springtime Familiar Summoning was a great success. I, Chevreuse, always enjoy seeing the new familiars that are summoned each spring."

Louise cast her eyes downward.

"My, my. You've summoned quite a... peculiar familiar, Miss Vallière," she remarked as she looked at Saito. The comment was fairly innocent, but the classroom exploded with laughter.

"Louise the Zero! Don't go around grabbing random commoners off the street just because you can't summon anything!"

Louise shouted down the jeers from her classmates. Her voice yelled in the superior tone which had irritated Saito so.

"No! I did everything properly! He was all that appeared!"

"Don't lie! I bet you couldn't even cast 'Summon Servant' properly, right?"

The other students chuckled. Their chuckles were callous and cruel, as if they were mocking a performing animal on stage. It was disconcerting. How could a group work together in an environment like this where everyone is ganging up on one person?

Maybe the instructors here promote division among the class to root out the week and raise the strong. Commander Samuel had done that to his Spartan group.

"Mrs. Chevreuse! I've been insulted! Malicorne the 'Common Cold' just insulted me!"

Louise banged her fist against the table top in protest.

"Common cold? I'm Malicorne the Windward! I haven't caught any cold!"

"Well, your hoarse voice sounds exactly like you've caught one!"

The boy called Malicorne stood up and glared at Louise. Chevreuse pointed at them with the wand in her hand. The two suddenly jerked about like puppets on a string and rigidly sat back down.

"Miss Vallière, Mister Malicorne. Please stop this unnecessary argument."

Saito watched with interest at the body manipulation spell. It was something that would be very useful in many combat situations. If only he could find a way to control the thoughts of the person rather than their limbs.

_Maybe I'm going to enjoy leaning about magic…_

Louise looked visibly dejected. All the vivacity that she'd shown just earlier seemed to have evaporated.

"Calling friends 'Zero' or 'Common Cold' is not acceptable. Do you understand?"

"Mrs. Chevreuse, I'm only called that as a joke, but for Louise, it's the truth."

A few giggles broke out from somewhere.

Chevreuse looked around the classroom with a severe expression. She pointed her wand again, and, as if from nowhere, the mouths of the students who'd giggled were suddenly filled with lumps of red clay.

"You people shall continue the lesson in that state."

This put a firm stopper on any further outbursts.

"Now then, let's begin the lesson."

Chevreuse coughed heavily and waved her wand. A few pebbles materialized on her desktop.

"My Runic name is 'Red Clay.' Chevreuse the Red Clay. This year, I will be teaching you all the magic of the Earth element. Do you know the four great elements of magic, Mister Malicorne?"

"Y-Yes, Mrs. Chevreuse. They are Fire, Water, Earth and Wind."

Saito may not be a scientist but he definitely called bullshit on that. Fire is not an element. It is a reactant. He was not a scientist by any sketch, but he do understand the periodic table and know that none of these things are "elements".

_And what the hell is "wind"?_

Chevreuse nodded.

"And combined with the now-lost element of 'Void,' there are five elements in total - as everyone should already know. Of the five elements, I believe Earth holds an extremely important position. This isn't just because my affinity is Earth, nor is it simply a personal preference."

Once again, Chevreuse coughed heavily.

"The magic of Earth is very important magic that governs the creation of all matter. If it wasn't for Earth magic, we wouldn't be able to produce or process necessary metals. Raising buildings from large boulders and harvesting crops would also involve much more work. In this manner, the magic of the Earth element is intimately related to everyone's life."

Saito tilted his head in thought. It seemed that science is this planet's parallel to science. While he had never been a physicist, he knew at least that there were universal laws governing the rules of physics. The lessons that his Spartan tutors had taught him were basically thrown out of the window from what he was seeing right now.

"Now, everyone, please recall that the basic magic of the Earth element is 'transmutation'. While there will be people here who have already learned this in their first year, basics build foundations, so let's review it once more."

Chevreuse turned her attention to the pebbles and twirled her wand over them.

She then whispered a spell, and they began to glow brightly.

When the light dimmed away, the pebbles had been changed into sparkling lumps of metal.

"Is that g-g-gold, Mrs. Chevreuse!"

Kirche leaned forward over her desk.

"No, it isn't. It's plain brass. Only Square-class mages are able to transmute to gold. I'm just..." Chevreuse gave a self-important cough. "A Triangle mage..."

All these words went through Saito's mind; there was too much jargon for him to understand the context. "Louise." Saito poked her.

"What? We're in the middle of a lesson here!"

"What's all this about squares and triangles supposed to mean?"

"It's the number of elements that they can add to a spell, which also determines the level of a mage."

"Huh?"

"See, for example, you can use an Earth spell on its own. But if you add Fire magic to it, the overall power of the spell increases greatly," Louise explained to Saito quietly.

"Oh, I see."

"Those who can stack two elements like Fire and Earth together are called Line mages. Mrs. Chevreuse, being able to combine three elements, Earth-Earth-Fire, is a Triangle mage."

"What happens when you add an element to itself?"

"It reinforces that element and makes it stronger."

"I see. So in other words, you could say that the teacher over there is a fairly powerful mage, because she's a Triangle?"

"Exactly."

"How many can you add, Louise?"

She didn't answer.

Realising that he knew virtually nothing of the land except from some vague answers from a questionable source, Saito made a mental note to ask around for more information relating to this world.

The teacher noticed them talking.

"Miss Vallière!"

"Y-Yes?"

"Please refrain from private chatter during lessons."

"I'm sorry..."

"Since you have the time to chatter, perhaps I should have you demonstrate for me?"

"Eh? Me?"

"Yes. Try changing these pebbles here into a metal of your choice."

Louise didn't stand up. She simply sat there looking troubled and fidgety.

"Hey, come on! She's pointing at you!" Saito nudged her.

"Miss Vallière! Is something the matter?"

Mrs. Chevreuse called for her again, but Kirche raised her voice in concern.

"Umm..."

"Yes?"

"I think it would be better if you didn't let her..."

"And why is that?"

"It's dangerous," Kirche answered plainly. The majority of the class nodded in agreement.

"Dangerous? How so?"

"This is your first time teaching Louise, right?"

"It is, but I hear she's a hard worker. Now, Miss Vallière. Don't you worry, just try it. You won't be able to do anything if you dread making mistakes."

"Don't, Louise!" Kirche cried out, her face pale.

But Louise stood up.

"I'll do it."

With a nervous expression, she walked briskly up to the front of the room. Saito sat in his seat and looked attentively at Louise. He was finding this amusing, more so than the ridiculing of Louise at the breakfast table.

Apparently there was some sort of taboo against Louise for her to perform magic in the school. Everyone, save the professor, was aghast at the idea. They appeared to believe the world would end or something horrible would befall them all when she stood up.

Remembering what happened yesterday when Saito had took her hostage; he believed that she was a powerful magician. Surely someone of her arrogance was due to her superiority to others?

"Miss Vallière, you have to visualize vividly the metal that you wish to transmute them into."

Chevreuse gave a warm smile to calm her fears. Louise took in a lungful of fresh air and cast her wand out. She incanted a series of words and the air seemed to simmer as if being manipulated by some force.

Saito studied the atmosphere around Louise, her gestures and movements to try and understand the way magic is used in this world. His analytical mind ate up all the data he could get. During this moment, he wished he had his helmet's ability to see in a different light spectrum.

Closing her eyes, Louise uttered an incantation and flourished her wand.

The pebbles on the desk promptly exploded.

Louise and Chevreuse caught the blast full-on and were thrown against the blackboard, as people screamed. Frightened familiars added to the chaos. Kirche's salamander suddenly woke from its sleep and stood up on its hind legs, breathing a jet of flame. A manticore burst into flight and smashed through a window to escape. Through the hole, the giant snake that had been peeking in earlier slithered in and swallowed someone's raven.

Kirche stood up and pointed a finger at Louise.

"That's why I told you not to let her do it!"

"Jeez, Vallière! Save us some grief and just quit school already!"

"My Lucky got eaten by a snake! Lucky!"

_Wished I had my helmet on,_ Saito mused. Luckily, he had ducked just in time when the explosion happened. He looked around and saw pure chaos in the classroom.

Professor Chevreuse laid spread eagled on the floor, blackened by the soot from the explosion. Her chest was still rising up and down which meant she was still alive.

A soot-blackened Louise rose slowly. She was a miserable sight to behold. Her torn blouse revealed a slender shoulder, and her panties could be seen beneath her ripped skirt.

You have to give the girl some credit. She didn't seem at all fazed by the discord in the room. She pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the soot off her face.

"Looks like I messed up a little..." That was the akin to saying the Covenant were a "little" angry over the UNSC. Big understatement.

This was hardly the outcome for a prodigy mage. Saito now knew that "Zero" was not an affectionate title for Louise. He couldn't be helped but to feel more sympathetic towards the young girl standing amidst the chaos in the classroom.

"That wasn't 'a little!', Louise the Zero!"

"Your success rate is always ZERO!"

Louise's shoulder sagged as her usually confident demeanour drained out of her body. She seemed more fragile due to the dejected look. She did not try to fight the jeers and taunts directed at her. It was a sad thing to watch.

* * *

><p>He helped her gather the ruined equipment. It was too much for one person to do, and deep down, he had done so out of pity. They have done so in silence, since the teacher had regained conscious and ordered that Louise be responsible for clean-up.<p>

Saito expected the small mage to fight her, but surprisingly, she had just nodded. Everyone had left early due to the explosion and only Saito and Louise was left.

Louise was struggling with moving the lecture stand. She tried to lift the heavy wooden thing but the weigh was too much for her. She tried nudging into a different angle and another but the damn thing still won't budge no matter how much effort she put into it.

"Why won't y you move Brimir damn you!" she kicked the stand with her foot. She then yelped in pain. The wood was harder than she thought.

"Why why why why why can't I get anything right?" she screamed.

Saito stopped piling the chairs away and noticed that tears were flowing from her eyes. Louise then descended onto the stand with a leg from a chair. She swung it and smashed it to the object of her anger. She took a dozen swipes before it yielded and the wood cracked.

She was not in her usual anger which had directed towards Saito. Rather, it was of self-pity and the releasing of pent up frustration of her inability to use magic. It was the same feeling of helplessness while the worlds laugh and mock you for your weakness. Saito, for the first time, found something he felt sympathetic to.

"I'm not useless, I'm not useless!" She muttered while swinging the improvised club. Images of her life flashed before her. Her sisters were the foremost in her mind. Cattleya, her eldest sister, was the one who she cherished the most. She had protected and sheltered Louise when she was young, away from the taunting from Eleanor.

Eleanor…

That brought up the image of her always putting her down. Saying that she was useless. She was not useless.

"Familiar, come over here." Louise ordered.

Saito walked up to her. "Yes?"

Her voice shook with emotion. "I-I o-order you t-to," she paused to compose herself, "I order you to hug me."

Saito just went along to do so. In truth, he was unsure on how to do so. This form of emotional interaction was completely alien to him. Even as a gutter rat, he had limited forms of social contact of this form. Fighting real aliens were simple, point and shoot. No need to feel anything just do it without pity.

Now a little girl with emotional problems needed a Spartan for help with comforting. He had nothing to help her with. No sort of training had prepared him for this sort of contingency. There were no guidelines, no protocols, or any manuals. Ever since arriving into this world, nothing made sense.

He was train to kill. As bluntly as possible and the most cost efficient.

The embrace was awkward. The size distinction between the Spartan and Louise meant that he had to kneel to bring his arms over her. He did not know if there was any length of time he had to hold on for.

A few seconds?

He also had to think about the strength he put into it. Too much, he threatened to crush her body. Then after several long agonizing seconds in which Louise hiccupped and sniffed, Saito let go. The two stood awkwardly around each other.

"Thank you…Saito."

* * *

><p>Outside the classroom, a blue haired girl stood by and monitored the Spartans interactions with Louise. She was surprised that the Spartan had actually comforted the "Zero"; she had thought that the soldier was as cold and heartless than herself.<p>

Her own observations from this morning during breakfast, she had cemented her thoughts that he would not go down easily to the little pink-haired mage's whims. What Kirche had told her this morning about the Spartan's reactions to her flirting told her that sexuality was not something he would pick up.

But the hug had surprised her. She didn't show that in her face of course. Tabitha prided herself in the collection of psychological profiles of all the students in the academy. She needed to find more information on him. It was a hobby to keep tab on knowledge of all kinds.

The book she held is not for show after all. It was more than a tool she used to fool people. She really likes reading them.

* * *

><p>He needed to get to the hill. If he did not he would never get to eat. If he did not eat he will die.<p>

The boy scrambled out of the muddy pit. He was a scrawny looking creature. Small and frail, as if the merest wind would break him. But his eyes spoke of a fiery passion of defiance.

He needed to get to the hill to eat.

His stomach was churning with the lack of food. It felt as if something was inside him and eating it. Hunger clawed his insides. He remembered what the big green giant had said.

"_You would not eat unless you fulfil the task. Failure to complete the task shall be punished without food for the entire day."_

It was simple for his mind to add up. Get to the hill and therefore you eat.

Just a few hundred meters away, he could see it. A lump of hard earth in the middle of a clearing. A single flag was planted on it.

He climbed up, his eyes dazed from exhaustion and hunger. He did not know how much time had passed since he was ordered to take the hill. Four hours? Four days?

Time was no longer relevant. All he knew was that he needed to climb the hill. He felt as if getting up to the hill was the sole reason for his existence.

Rain splattered down from the sky, blinding the boy even further. It tasted acrid, like swamp water. Destructive thunderstorms ravaged the large land mass for eight months a year. No wonder this planet was deserted. Nobody in their right mind would want to live here. Except the Spartans.

The boy's basic motor functions were to put his feet one step over the other. He couldn't care any less.

"…need to get to the hill…need to get to the hill to eat..."

He muttered this like a mantra, as if repeating this would make it happen magically.

The boy slipped and crashed head first on the ground. The wet mud softened the fall, but it didn't make it any less painful.

He wanted to cry, to let tears flow freely. But since his adoption by the giants in armour, he did not feel anything inside him, just the need for vengeance.

_Against the monsters who came to his world. The monsters that killed his family._

He attempted to get up, but he couldn't. Every time he tried, his body would fail and he would crash down. He never wanted to feel like that again.

_The monster was as tall as his father was tall to the boy. Its breath was rancid, its teeth sharp._

_A woman, dressed in dirty rags, held onto the boy. The woman hugged him, never letting him go. _

The boy called upon all his reserve. He pulled one leg up. Then the other. Then he crashed down again on the mud.

"…need to get to the hill…" he repeated.

Suddenly, he felt someone grabbing him. The stranger helped pull him up onto his feet. The boy looked weakly at the newcomer. It was a girl, one of the hundreds of children "adopted" by the Spartans. Her hair was orange and she had the same emancipated look as the boy. But he knew from the look in her eye, she shared the same look of defiance.

"Don't worry," said the girl, "we'll get through this."

He merely nodded and the duo continued their trek to their objective.

"What's your name?" the girl asked.

"432." He answered.

"No, your real name."

The boy wondered for a moment, it seemed like a lifetime since he had mentioned his name. "Saito, my name is Saito."

"Julie, my name is Julie." The girl with orange hair said.

* * *

><p><strong>Lexicon<strong>

**Theta-Company**

Theta-Company follows a non-standard pattern in organisation among its ranks. This means that rather than follow a company level structure like the other Spartan III program, they follow the more flexible organisations of the original Spartan IIs with independent cells of a handful of Spartans.

From its induction, the cells are trained together in the reminiscent of the Head Hunter groups under ONI. This may have been due to the influences of Spartan-Commander Samuel during his Beta-Company years as a Head Hunter himself.

At its height, Theta-Company had fourteen cells from Theta-0 to Theta-13. Each cell had from four to six Spartans. Each cell is to be able to be operated separately from each other, but Theta-0 has the ability to override previous orders.

Theta-0 is the operational headquarters unit which gives out orders and coordinate the different cells. Commander Samuel is the head of Theta-0, but due to his command role in the _Xanatos_, his second-in-command usually takes his place on ground operations.

**Mk 36 Combat Implementation Tool (SG)**

The Mk36 is a trench knife designed as part of an expanding arsenal of Spartan grade weaponry. Calling it a knife would be an understatement as it is the length of a short sword to non-Spartans. The special mono circular edge is derived from reverse engineering Covenant alloys and can easily pierce titanium-A and most Covenant armour with ease.

It attains the features of the original trench knife such as a spiked hand guard and pommel. This allows the user to crush the skull using its knuckle duster grip. While it would not be wise to tackle an energy sword wielding Sangheli, the Mk36 is perfect for eliminating light infantry and field usage.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**

A wild chapter has appeared!

The holidays are almost over and a new semester of uni is about to start. May have time squeezing in a few more chapters before homework swallows me up.

The Sangheli hunting segment was inspired from a passage in Dan Abnett's Horus Rising, where Loken reminiscences about his past battles. While not the best in the book, my mental image of Loken hunting the Eldar warrior and then killing it inspired me to try something like that. I was also inspired by the movie Predator, so just picture that setting Schwarzenegger humping through the jungle.

I shall be interpreting the FoZ world a lot due to the lack of info with the rest of the universe. I expanded the setting to make it a closer analogue with our world. So Rodina is the equivalent of Russia while Helios is Greece. I would like to expand more of the Far East in the future.

I just realised Colbert is the professor's first name. I'll be using his proper name from now on: Colbert Jean.

The statement/lectures from the two arguing professors I confess are a week attempt in introducing a quick background of the immediate setting. I thought that it is a new way for me to make an intelligent sounding explanation for the Albion war without other characters explaining it. I thought of putting it as a Lexicon entry but want to experiment with this.

Tell me what you think by reviewing the story.

The fight segment with Guiche is my first attempt at close combat fighting. So be aware of it being too "stiff".

* * *

><p>Halo and FoZ does not belong to me. This story, however, belongs to me and I'll fight tooth and claw to keep it that way.<p>

* * *

><p>"I tell you, the Albion rebellion is possible because of the complex socio-economic problems that had befallen the country when all those reformists fled there. They have all kinds of evil revolutionaries brewing plans to topple the Albion aristocracy. It is thanks to our Tristain royal family which managed to hold the peace when the Germanians invaded two centuries ago. We have become staunch royalists when the dark days of Reformalism swept the land."<p>

"While your premise has merit, but I tend to believe more on the social side of things. It is the small things that matter in the long run. The invention of the printing press in Romalia allowed for the wide scale accumulation of knowledge which caused people to be more aware of heretical revolutionary propaganda. It was a mistake in allowing the plebeians access to education."

The two highly knowledgeable but greatly biased professors chatted by from a bench. It was amazing what conversation you could pick up by just being quiet. Enhanced hearing doesn't hurt either.

Saito so far had attempted to understand the world he is now in. Halkeginia appeared to be synonymous with the Europe of his world. It was fascinating with the similarities between Earth and here. It was as if a very unimaginative author had crafted a world for a novel and just changed the names of Europe and added magic and monsters into the mix.

He held onto the handfuls of clothing that Louise had ordered to be washed. Her weekly washing needed to be done. The funny thing was that she had asked him to do it. _Asked._

She had even offered him a piece of chicken as a reward. He told her he was flattered in the most sarcastic way possible without the use of a patronising bow. He set off to find a servant.

Not as if he couldn't do the deed himself. It was just that he couldn't demean himself by washing someone's undergarments. So he went off and took the opportunity to explore, to perform a reconnaissance of the castle. After all, he was going to live in its walls and it made sense to get a feel for it.

His armoured boots echoed as he walked down stone corridor. After a while, he spotted a female who wore the long black lacy gowns of a maid. Maybe they would be able to help with his errand. The maid was of medium build which meant up to the Spartan's neck. She seemed to be resting by a nearby bench and was half-asleep. A line of drool was coming out from the corner of her mouth.

"You, servant." Saito spoke.

The maid jerked up and looked around. She saw the huge Spartan standing in his intimidating looking armour and gave a small shriek.

"Pl-lease, w-what do you want?"

"I need you to do something." The giant stated.

All sorts of things entered her mind. _What would this big man do to me? Would he take advantage of this poor innocent and defenceless maid? Perhaps he would have to blackmail me to do all sorts of nasty things. Oh dear, let's not hope he would do the forbidden technique as described in chapter 6 of the "Prince and the Lustful Maid"._

Saito raised an eyebrow at her. She was blushing and kept on mumbling something about "oh not that", "wow that is too straightforward" and most worryingly "is It really that big?"

He coughed loudly and that seemed to bring her out of her day dreaming. "I'm terribly sorry, what do you want me to do?"

She prepared for the worst. _I hope he'll be gentle…_

He presented her some clothes. She was taken back.

"You want me to wash this, right?"

Saito nodded. "Of course," he said this as if it was the most obvious thing to do, "what else do you want me to do?"

She blushed a deep shade of scarlet. "Oh, nothing, don't worry."

The maid took the clothes off of him.

"Err…come on, I'll show you the laundry room."

Saito followed the maid.

"My name is Siesta by the way." She told Saito.

"I'm Saito."

"You must be Miss Valliere's familiar. The staff had been talking. You caused quite a stir for the whole academy."

"Have I really caused that much fuss?"

She nodded. "Of course, Miss Valliere is not known for her…prowess in magic. So it was a surprise that she manages to summon a familiar. And when it turned out to be a commoner, it was a big surprise. To top it off, you turned against her within minutes!"

Even the staff thought badly of Louise. "I never realised I was that popular around the place."

Siesta then looked guilty. "Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"What do you mean?" Saito asked.

Hesitating, she answered. "Well…err…It's just we commoners are not supposed to talk out of turn. Even you are above many plebeians because of your association with Miss Valliere. So I shouldn't have said anything about what the servants have been gossiping."

"That doesn't matter to me so don't bother about it."

"Oh, thank you." Siesta said, relieved.

She was surprised at the giant's demeanour. From gossip, she had heard that he was a Rodinan Cossack from the eastern steppes. Another gossip was that the mysterious warrior was a creature created by an alchemist from Galliea with dead parts of condemned criminals and revived with lightning based spells.

But right now, Siesta realised he wasn't a bad person. His scarred facial features still unnerved her though. It was the stereotyped features of criminals and ne'er-do-wells that often appeared in her romance novels. The type which was to be beaten by the ravishing muscular hero.

Still, he did cut for an impressive feature.

"So Mister Saito, where are you from?" She asked.

"Not from here." He answered.

Confused, Siesta pushed that question. "What do you mean, you are not from here?"

"I meant I am not from Halkeginia."

"You mean you are from somewhere far from here? Like from distant lands?" Maybe the Rodinan Cossack theory was right after all.

"I'm afraid it is more like from another planet. I was born in a world beyond this one."

She was even more confused. "You mean like from across the ocean? There are lands that have not been explored yet. I heard that there are whole new worlds out there. Full of exotic trees and inhabited by savages with spears."

"Not across the ocean. I'm from beyond the stars, as your people put it."

"So you are telling me that you are from…beyond this world?"

Saito nodded. "It is too complex to explain it all to you."

"What is it like over there?"

Satio thought over that for a minute. What is it like to live in the UNSC?

He certainly didn't live in it for the most parts. His life as a Spartan was living aboard the _Xanatos_. All the UNSC planets he had been on where either warzones or barren wastelands. He could not really say what life was like for the average citizen. But he did know there were standards of living were totally different from those living in the Inner Colonies and the Outer Colonies.

"It's…alright." He managed. He didn't mention it being a police state rife with corruption and genocidal aliens.

* * *

><p>They had arrived at the destination. There were vats of hot water for washing clothes and lines for drying them out. Servants went to and fro with baskets of clothing. It had an orderly feel to it, as if it had been ordered by a drill sergeant.<p>

Siesta led Saito towards one of the vats. "Place the clothes inside here please."

Saito threw in the bundle into the steaming vat.

"This should take about a day to finish."

"I will come back when it is finished."

"Don't worry about that, my sector is where Miss Valliere's room is located. I can come and hand the clothes back to you."

The head matron, a big burly woman of middle age came up to them. "Siesta, where have you been? The third floor needed cleaning."

"I'm sorry matron, but I was helping Miss Valliere's familiar with the laundry. I will get back to it soon." Siesta apologised.

The matron turned to regard the big Spartan. "Well, stranger," she said with humour in her voice, "saw what happened today at breakfast. Was mighty impressed with what you did to those stuck up nobles. My name is Lucia; I am in charge of the castle's domestic servants."

"My name is Saito and I was just defending myself from what I considered to be an unfair treatment."

She laughed a deep throaty chuckle. "Not many people can say that, defending themselves against a noble."

"Not many people can say they have been summoned by a mage and be forced to be their servant." Saito said.

Lucia laughed again. "I think I like you. If you need help, contact any servant and we'll do our best to help you. The castle staff is like a big extended family. In fact, my husband is the head chef; go down to the kitchen if you feel like a snack."

"I am grateful for that offer. But I think I'll have to go now, as refreshing it is to meet new people."

"The pleasure's all mine." She grinned.

Saito turned to exit the laundry room but stopped and turned. "Actually, you can help me with something. If you don't mind, I would like to know where I can fix my armour."

Lucia burrowed her brow in thought. "Hmmm, if you mean for a blacksmith, then you would have to find one from town. The castle's forge has much to be desired, it's just enough to fix things around the place. I don't know any though; you might have to ask around."

"Thank you anyway. I also want to know if you have some form of database where I can find information." He asked.

"You'll want the library then. That's located within the main citadel. Professor Colbert is usually there most of the time and acts as our librarian. It was very nice of him to let us servants in; past professors wouldn't do that. Granted, most of us don't know how to read our letters anyway."

"I need directions to get there." Saito asked.

"I can show you it if you want," offered Siesta, "I was to go there and dust the place anyway."

He nodded. "Thank you for the assistance, Siesta."

She blushed at the compliment. "N-no need to thank me, as I said, I was to clean there anyway."

* * *

><p>Professor Colbert Jean gathered the stack of books in his hands. Children these days, they don't see the importance of proper book sorting. They don't bother to place them back on the shelf when they're finished with it.<p>

He heard footsteps and voices outside. Odd, often students would be having their dinner during this time. A late night study perhaps?

"Well here it is Mister Saito, the library. I will have to go now." He heard from a feminine voice.

The library door opened. To his surprise, it was the Spartan. Colbert hasn't seen the warrior since Osmond's office during his first day. Colbert was to do some research on similar events that had happened in the past. But there were too many materials he needed to go through which he had no time.

"Err…Saito was it?" Colbert asked.

Saito nodded. "Yes it is, and you are Professor Jean."

"So what brings you here to the library?"

"I just have an interest in this world's history. My knowledge is next to nothing, and any traveller should know they need to have a known of the land before setting out."

Colbert seemed to brighten up at the prospect of teaching a student. "Of course I can help. In fact, I have one in my mind that fits perfectly for you. It is a first year textbook on contemporary Tristain history."

The professor went off and disappeared behind a shelf. He emerged a while later and held out a green covered book. "Frankly, I am surprised that a soldier has interest in current events and history. I am happy that you want to be aware of the wider world. It is a noble quest to further one's knowledge."

"In my world, we have a maxim "knowledge is power". It is through the study of your opponent that you can gain advantage over them."

"I agree with your sentiments. Everyone should have access to a form of education, even plebeians. I have been campaigning for allowing greater educational freedom and softening of restrictions for commoners. Headmaster Osmond has been extremely helpful with my-"

Saito coughed silently, indicating that the professor was going off topic. Colbert saw the textbook in his hand and sheepishly handed it over to the Spartan.

"Thank you for the book, professor. I'm afraid that I'll need to go off now. As much as I hate to leave, my "master" would probably be in her room wondering where I am off to."

"It was a pleasure seeing you again. I hope you can come back here; we have plenty of books on all sorts of subjects. If you want I can reserve books on politics, warfare or so-"

The Spartan had already left.

"Ladies, please, I'm sure we can sort this out."

Guiche de Gramont raised his hands as if in surrender. As if by that simple act the two girls would halt their advance. Sweat drops were forming. The two girls in question were fixing him with a gaze that could kill. Indeed, if it did, he would've been a pile of ashes.

Montmorency Margarita was a second-year girl whose hair was styled into long Victorian ringlets, with a red bow in back. "Who is this woman? And why is she saying that you are her true love?" She demanded.

The second girl, Katherine de Ringstedt, was a first-year brunette who had a clingy look on her face. "Tell me this isn't true Guiche; that you had been cheating behind my back."

Montmorency was incensed. "Cheating behind your back? You mean cheating behind my back! This lowlife was dating me first!"

A crowd was gathering to see the confrontation. There were snickering and whispering.

_Think Guiche de Gramont! Think! Your pride is in the line._

"Err, that isn't true, I wouldn't have cheated with either of you if I knew I would get away with it."

_Real smooth Guiche…_

The double synchronised slap reverberated throughout the hall. The two girls then stomped off, with the blonde girl shouting obscenities till she went out of earshot. The brunette girl just bawled and cried all the way towards her dorm.

Guiche rubbed both his sore cheeks and grimaced. The snickering turned into full on laughter. They were pointing fingers at the Gramont boy. There was only one way out of this situation…

He raised his rose wand dramatically. "I, Guiche de Gramont, challenge Louise de Valliere to a duel to avenge my family's name!"

* * *

><p>"I am not going to fight him." Saito stated plainly.<p>

Louise was pacing up and down the length of the room. For the last ten minutes, she had screamed and raged about how the Gramont family line was full of "upstart fancy boys" and how they had only became aristocrats because of their great-great-great grandfather being some king's drinking buddy.

Saito stopped listening not long after.

"What do you mean you won't fight?" She demanded the Spartan, who for the most parts looked bored leaning against a wall.

"I meant what I said. I'm not going to humour some stuck up egotistical boy who can't think without his pants."

"_Shouldn't worry?_ My family line is at stake! I'm not going to let some womanizing Gramont slander me just because I revealed his adulterous ways. This is part of our contract, when your master is threatened, you must act and protect her with all your strength!"

From the rumour mill, Saito found out it was indeed her fault. After waiting patiently for Saito's return, she decided to set out to hunt her familiar. Just in case he defected to a certain red haired Zerbst.

While coming down to the hall, Louise had stumbled into Guiche. The two fell and an object came out of Guiche's pockets. It was a bottle of perfume, a special blend that Montmorency made for Guiche as a symbol of their love.

The boys accompanying Guiche noticed the perfume and immediately realised that he was dating the Margarita girl. The funny thing was that both Katherine and Montmorency chose that particular moment to show up. Needless to say, things turned for the worst from there.

There was a rule that nobles cannot duel one another within school grounds. However, that law could be bypassed by fielding a proxy to fight in one stead. This meant that Guiche was to challenge Louise's commoner familiar. She had refused; stating that there was no way that a commoner can stand against a mage, no matter how pathetic that mage was.

But Guiche knew of Louise immense ego. He taunted Louise by saying how useless she was and that her familiar reflected on her inept use of magic. Louise did not take that insult well.

Saito found it ironic, that a man of Guiche's egotistical calibre would stoop towards humiliating Louise's character. Considering just how little respect Louise receives in the first place, Guiche would need very little help in humiliating her even further.

"This wouldn't have happened if you had arrived here as usual. That way, I wouldn't have left the room."

The Spartan shrugged his shoulders. "What a couple of teens fight over is nothing to do with me, familiar or not. I have some reading material I need to review right now, not a fight."

Saito took out the book he had borrowed from the library. It was a thick book, but small enough to fit in one of the student's book bags. The title was written in spidery gold letters on the cover and spine.

Saito frowned. It was not in English.

He flicked through its pages. He saw words and diagrams, but they were all written in what appeared to be French. He could not understand the words. A few words he could make out with an educated guess, as well as numbers. But it might as well be Covenant runes for all the good it did.

Then he remembered the day before, when he arrived in Tristain. He could not understand what the people were saying. Colbert had casted some sort of spell which translated spoken speech into English. Spoken but not written. Shit.

He looked up at Louise. What he was about to ask was probably going to hurt him in some way.

"Can you teach me how to read?"

Saito saw the flicker of something behind Louise's eye as she heard him say those words. He felt an oncoming sense of dread.

* * *

><p>"Well I am surprised you came here at all. I had thought that with your poor upbringing and incompetent master, you would chicken out from this duel."<p>

Guiche and a crowd of students were waiting for Saito. Rather than a private fight, Saito had expected, he now faced spectators. Guiche really wanted to show his superiority in front of everyone. What Louise did had hurt his over his immensely inflated ego and he wanted to avenge that with the most humiliating defeat possible.

Saito arrived here in full Mjolnir gear, helmet included. He was irritated with the egotistical boy and his constant bragging. He just wanted this unnecessary showcasing of alpha-male dominance over and done with. It was unbecoming for a Spartan.

In any other time, he would've not been here. But Louise had blackmailed him. _Blackmailed a Spartan! _But things had been different since arriving here. He wondered if this was what the UNSC termed "going native"?

"_In return for teaching you your letters, you must promise me to be forever faithful to me, your master." _She said in her usual superior tone._ "And you promise that you will go and duel that Gramont in my name!" _

There was no telling if Saito could find a language tutor in such a short notice. Colbert would've been helpful but the man was probably busy. Saito had access to Louise almost all the time since he was her familiar. With no other choice, Saito nodded, and pledge his services.

The boy looked frail, more of a dandy man than a fighter. Saito was unsure how he would fight. It would be suicide to just challenge a Spartan to a duel if you don't have plenty of ordnance to back you up. Nothing short of a Covenant cruiser could hurt a Spartan.

Saito guessed that he could just reach him in a few steps. He would just scare the boy, to make sure that he gets the message: _Stay the fuck away from the Spartan._

Guiche was more than a little intimidated by the huge armoured warrior. The raw physical power the big man emitted frightened the young nobleman. But he was a Gramont, Founder damn it! He would not let some commoner get the better off him. When the "Zero" had embarrassed him in front of everyone, the noble lineage of Gramont was at stake!

His family belonged to a long line of military mages. His two eldest brothers were all officers in the army. His father was the chief of staff in the Tristain military. Guiche had long abandoned the idea of trying to get his approval. Who cares if his father had expected nothing of a third son? Who cares if he had scoffed at Guiche's attempts for being more military minded?

He was a Gramont! And he will stand his ground.

Besides, he was sure the big man would be too clumsy to dodge his earth based spells. No commoner can hope to match the god given powers bestowed to the nobles. No matter how big and scary looking the armoured man in front of him looked. In a way, Guiche was glad the Spartan was wearing a helmet to hide his scarred features.

"I'll have you know, that fancy armour of yours would not save you from defeat. My abilities would triumph over metal armour any day." Guiche lifted his artificial rose high; ladies in the crowd were swooning over his sparkly aura.

Saito wondered if it was indeed illusion brought on from some hallucinogen.

"I am here to avenge the honours of two women from a wretched conspiracy. His master, the "Zero" mage, has tarnished their reputation by spreading outrageous lies. So I have called upon a duel, to show this commoner his place!"

The crowd were braying for action. They had arrived here to see the beating between a noble mage and a commoner. Calling it a duel would be too generous a term for Zero's commoner familiar. It would be a cruel beating akin to punishing a servant for his misdeeds.

Guiche smirked. That would show who is superior.

Louise did for the time approved method for coping with stupidity, she face palmed. Who was he trying to show off? Her commoner or herself? A part of her hated the way he directed the hate towards the Spartan rather than her, the master.

Saito did not rise to the bait and instead just stood there waiting for his opponent to act. It was very amusing if it wasn't so stupid. You were not to attack someone who appeared to be stronger than you. That was a sure way for suicide.

_Wonder if he has a death wish, there are other less painful alternatives._

He gave Guiche a chance to get out. "Look, you can get out of this without getting hurt. Just swallow your pride."

Guiche gave one of his irritating sing-song laughs. "You hear that! Louise the Zero's familiar says he wants to cancel the duel! He sees my superiority and is frightened to face me!"

_Actually, a stern beating would do him much good._ He thought.

"Come now, enough verbal sparring, we fight!"

Saito sighed and readied for whatever feeble assault Guiche would dish out. A couple of rose petals fell out from the rose…and a trio of armoured women appeared.

Saito blinked. He wasn't expecting that trick.

The three metal constructs were shaped in the fashion of females clad in armoured plates. They looked like Valkyries from Norse legends, warrior women who ride on winged horses to escort dead warriors to Valhalla. They were taller than a man, even taller than Saito. In their hands, they held assorted weapons, hammer, sword and axe.

The crowd awed in amazement at the three bronze constructs. Louise's face paled.

Guiche gave a nasty smile. "I am a mage and am expected to fight like one. So I wouldn't be too sorry to be using my sacred powers to show your place in this world, commoner."

He saw that the Spartan would not be an easy task to tackle so Guiche had drew on more power into his spells and crafted stronger and mightier bronze constructs. It was taxing him in strength but it was worth it to deal with this upstart commoner.

The three moved to surround Saito. The Spartan went into a combat position, fist raised, legs planted firmly on the ground. The table had turned and he swore inwardly on having underestimated the blonde haired mage. He should have known that they would use magic. How could he have forgotten that?

The first Valkyrie construct lunged for him, its gleaming war hammer intent in smashing the Spartan down. Saito sidestepped and brought his elbow to slam at the beings exposed back. It made a satisfying crack sound as it connected. The thing slammed down onto the grass.

Saito wasted no time in blocking the long sword from the second Valkyrie. In a quick fluid movement, he had drawn out his trench knife from his boot scabbard and parried the downward slash. He felt the force of the blow and knew that it was not strong enough to piece his armour.

With his foot, he kicked off the construct and grabbed the sword off its metal hands. Now holding two swords, he had then brought it over his head so that it formed an intercepting X shape. The axe came down and the twin swords blocked the blow before it impacted.

With a twist, Saito turned away the axe and chopped down on the axe wielding Valkyrie. The Mk36 trench knife hacked through the construct and the thing fell into two pieces. Technology used to pierce Covenant body armour proved no match against bronze metal.

One down, but that left two more enemies. Saito threw the sword at its original owner who had about to tackle him over. The sword knocked it back a few steps and Saito took the time to smash the spiked pommel at the thing's face. It cracked as his fist impacted and Saito punched it a second time before the head was completely knocked off.

The last Valkyrie had gotten up but was met by a chop from the trench knife. Its head flew neatly away from the body. The construct fell slumped, headless.

The crowd was speechless. The entire fight had lasted less than a minute. Guiche gawped and his mouth opened and close like a fish. His eyes were bulging out from their sockets.

Saito turned to Guiche. "So what now?"

Guiche snapped out from his amazement and mumbled incoherently before shooting a series of petals from his rose wand. This time a dozen Valkyries appeared to defend their master. They were armed with the assortment of weapon but now with spears and maces in their hands.

This time, the Spartan just charged the things before they can get to him. _Counter-attack_.

* * *

><p>Louise stared at her familiar. She was dumbstruck at the level of carnage unfolded by the Spartan. He had taken on three of the fearsome Bronze Valkyries and won in a minute. His movements were fluid and graceful like a dancer, but yet, they were quick and precise like a swordsman, with no finesse or flamboyancy. In effect, he was a soldier, he did not show off.<p>

Now, her Saito had charged headfirst into a dozen Valkyries. She watched in awe as he tore apart construct after construct with his bare hands. One of the Valkyries sneaked up on him, Louise tried to say something before the mace came down onto the Spartan's back. To her amazement, the blow did nothing against the Spartan's armour.

Saito turned around and back handed the construct and its head flew right off its neck. It landed with a soft thud a few meters away from Louise's feet. She stared at the empty eyes of the metal construct. She told herself that it was just metal and was not actually alive in a true sense. But she couldn't help but shudder at the thought of her familiar's carnage unfold against human armies.

Real flesh and blood.

_What kind of wars would permit the creation of such a terrible warrior? _

* * *

><p>Guiche could not help but cry as the last of his beautiful Valkyries were torn to scrap metal right in his eyes. He nearly ran away when the Spartan had smashed apart a construct with its own arm. It was only stopped by the lack of motor functions within his lower extremities. He was to have nightmares from the image of the armoured figure using that arm and smashing the construct over and over again.<p>

He squeaked in horror as the Spartan rose from the piles of defeated Valkyries and walked calmly towards the young Gramont. Guiche raised his rose wand with his shaking hand. "D-don't come any closer!"

The Spartan walked up towards the boy and looked down at the cowering boy. Gone were his cocksure demeanour and the arrogant smirk. Saito placed his faceplate up to Guiche so that he was face-to-face with him.

"Boo."

Guiche screamed high pitched and fell on to his ass. His composure completely swept away and replaced by a babbling idiot.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please don't hurt me, please, please!"

But Saito decided that he needed to teach more of a lesson into the arrogant bastard. He raised Guiche by the neck so that his feet was kicking Saito's chest. He did not use enough force so that he could choke. Guiche's hands were holding onto his armoured forearms so that gravity won't pull the body down and suffocate him.

Tears were streaming freely down his face and he was sure he could smell the tang of urine from his pants. Guiche de Gramont was defeated not-so soundly.

The crowd gasped, and a few cried out. The duel had grown beyond what they had expected. They came to witness a one-sided battle but for totally different side. They did not expect a commoner to beat a nobleman. Without magic nonetheless.

They thought that the giant behemoth would accept the bawling Gramont's surrender. But to their horror, the Spartan had raised the nobleman up and was probably going to kill him.

Saito saw just how fragile the boy was. One flick of his hands and his neck would snap like a twig. It was so easy. He had done this before countless times. But he decided it would be undiplomatic to do so right now. Besides, the kid was just annoying, and the Valkyrie's were a welcome distraction while that lasted.

In Guiche's face, fear was evident. The blonde haired Gramont was near hysterical. "Please, I'll give you anything, please don't hurt me!"

The Spartan scoffed, what use were money to him?

"Say that I have won and you are defeated by a commoner and go apologise to Louise over there"

"You won; I have been defeated by a commoner. Louise I'm so sorry, please tell your monster to let me go!" He shrieked.

Someone from the crowd shouted out something. Louise wondered who it was. Then she realised it was her mouth that spoke out. "F-familiar, let Guiche down now!"

Saito released his grip. Guiche fell down unceremoniously onto the grass. The blonde boy picked himself up and ran with all the speed he could muster. The crowd expected the Spartan to jeer at the retreating figure or to proclaim victory or some other sign that he had won. Instead he turned around and quietly walked away.

After an agonizing minute, Louise realised she was staring at her familiar walking off. She shook her head, clearing away the awed look on her face and ran off towards the Spartan.

* * *

><p>"That…was remarkable…"Miss Longueville breathed out.<p>

"Indeed." Headmaster Osmond stated, with a bit more control over his voice.

In the office of the headmaster, the two viewed the short duel from the Mirror of Far-Seeing. The mirror was more of a crystal ball which allowed the viewers to survey the entire school. In another universe, this would be known as a "security camera".

"H-how did Miss Valliere's familiar, a commoner, defeat an Earth element mage?"

Old Osmond sat silently on his chair. He was in his wise old sage mode now, rather than the senile old man mask. Longueville mentally remind herself to be more aware around the perverted headmaster.

"Miss Valliere's familiar is no normal commoner, Miss Longueville. Apparently, an error in the summoning ritual had brought this warrior into our realm. He is not from our world; he was a soldier where he came from. I confess to know next to nothing apart from the very little snippets we have gotten off of him."

Longueville was intrigued by this sudden announcement. Her mind calculated how this Saito would fit in her plans for the future. But he was a commoner do, albeit a very formidable one. What can he do to open up a magically sealed door?

"Should we be doing something? This may be dangerous person, who knows what this familiar can do. Perhaps we should inform the palace of this new development." Longueville played the worried secretary look.

Old Osmond shook his head. "I don't think that is necessarily. If there is any more development, however, I may inform Count Mott, who would be coming over in a few days."

The mention of Count Mott brought up a curled sneer beneath her secretary façade. _That lecherous bastard. _

Old Osmond took out a pipe from somewhere in the recesses of his robes. He clicked his fingers and the thing lit up. Soon, the room smelled of tobacco.

"Besides," Osmond continued, "the whole school would know by the end of the day and what's going to stop them from writing home to their parents?"

Longueville frowned. "The Gramonts would not be pleased when they hear of this."

Osmond took another huff from his pipe. "Yes, they would not be please when they do. But knowing Marquis Gramont, he would like his son to learn some humility. Getting beaten by a commoner would probably make the boy focus."

"But he got beaten in a duel by a commoner, without the use of magic. Surely no noble would go about having your family name disgraced like that."

"The sad thing is Marquis have no faith in his third son. That is a fate that befalls those who are cursed to have older brothers. His father did not groom him enough as he did not see the need. Our Tristain nobility are not like those of Gallian stock, we don't have frequent assassinations to warrant backup heirs as insurance. If Guiche was the first in line to the Gramont name, you are sure to expect reprisals."

* * *

><p>True to her words, Louise taught the Spartan. She began with teaching Saito the fundamental basics of the language: alphabets, phrases and pronunciations. Kid's stuff.<p>

Surprisingly, Louise was a good teacher. Saito realised that when it comes to the practicality of magic, Louise stood out like a sore thumb. But the theory aspects, the written parts, she excelled at.

He noticed that when she had set her mind to something, she had an ideal worker's ethics. Saito made regular mistakes. He had bumbled his way through phrases and made literal translations. Of course, this was to be expected. One cannot just master an entire language overnight.

Louise, did not reprimand Saito for those mistakes, she knew that it was hard to master a language. She patiently showed the Spartan where he went wrong and made him pick up from there. She was fair, something which Saito did not expect from the mistress of punishment.

Now and then, she did reveal her social superiority. "By the Founder, you made the same mistake here again. You translated this text too literally. It is no wonder that you peasants only learned to read recently."

But Louise grudgingly admitted that the warrior was learning at an accelerating rate. In one night, he read the entire first chapter of the history textbook. He ate through almost two hundred years of Tristain history and could recite the dates and names more clearly than most third years. A part of her was terrified at the prospects of her familiar being educated and possibly adopt a more independent attitude.

But the other part, wanted to show off just how amazing this commoner was. This'll show the world what Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière is truly capable of.

* * *

><p>Saito's entire body was a testament to his life, a walking trophy pile. Some would call it a neurotic obsession, or kleptomania. He kept items which reminded him of a particular event.<p>

Like a serial killer keeping mementos of their deeds. In a way, he was a killer of a particular sort and the majority of the items he had acquired involved a violent death one way or another. He did not get any sexual gratification from it of course. The items he had pilfered were of practical use rather than sentimental.

The shoulder guard of a Brute Chieftain. The Stomper from the ONI agent. Assorted Mjolnir armour pieces of many, many, dead Spartans.

He held a rusty length of razor wire in his hand. That was different. To anyone else, it would appear as if it was just any normal razor wire. But to Saito, it was a piece of himself.

Stalking the Sangheli was an art of itself. He was no hunter, but he was a Spartan. There were very little they could not improvise.

Saito spent a week stalking the lone Elite stealth commando. He had used all his guile to outsmart the Sangheli.

One on one. Mano-a-mano.

No doubt Dereck would've said something for this occasion. He was a poetic bastard.

He remembered the Elite. Its active camouflage had long ago overloaded, revealing its intricate medieval-like armour. Its stature was so alien. It reminded him of a reptile.

Both opponents were worn out by the silent duel. None of the two had uttered a word for a week, fearing it would reveal one another. For the Sangheli, it was an honour thing, to seek out the Demon and single him out for honourable combat.

For Saito, it was just another kill.

In the end, he had emerged victorious. There was nothing honourable about killing the alien.

He had used a rusty piece of razor wire to do the deed. He had finally outsmarted its prey after a week of cat and mouse games. The Elite's back was facing him, and Saito took the opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Some would've said it was dishonourable, cowardly even. But he was alive and that's what mattered in the end. Not something the Sangheli could brag about.

Garrotting the Elite with the rusty piece of razor wire was not an easy feat. Even in its death throes, the alien was still fighting. Saito admired the Sangheli commando; it was an enemy which one can respect. Saito was almost overcome with tears due to the emotional intensity of the fight.

_Almost._

He had kept the wire with him in one of his equipment pouches. Sometimes before a mission, he would hold it in his hands. That piece of wire reminded him of that struggle.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Authors note:**

Ye gods, this chapter was hell to write. Literally took almost a year of writing, planning and the likes. I had to rewrite the entire thing after realising that I wrote the story into a corner. Anyhow, the chapter is up and so enjoy this while it lasts. Chances are the next one is going to take a while as well.

I apologise if my story is lacking in action and too much exposition. It's the way I roll.

I have to thank Nik for proof reading/ editing/ this pile of mess and forging it into a readable chapter.

I'm also in the lookout for a beta-reader. Inbox me.

Review! My immense ego demands tribute!

Halo and FoZ does not belong to me. If it did, I shall be flaunting my immense wealth to the world as well as making my story canon.

/

Lord Samuel Thomas described himself, for a lack of a better word, as fat man. Not morbidly obese but that of a well-fed and well-lived man of thirty-five; a bulging belly and a wobbly double chin. He almost certainly would not fit the traditional image of a man in his prime. So it was understandable that when climbing up the stairs of the palace that he took a minute or two so that he could take a breather and wipe the sweat off his brow.

His wife, Melissa, had chastised him for eating too much salted pork when eating breakfast. _"I didn't marry a pig!"_ She wagged. _"Your habits shall be the death of you!"_

Any other man would've slapped the woman for saying that to their husband. But he loved and cared for her too much to see her hurt. Being married for almost three decades can do that to a man, and there was also the fact that she was right about his less than healthy diet.

He sat down on one of the stone benches lining the palace halls and gathered breaths in long wheezes. _I do need to lose some stones_, he thought glumly. There were spells for levitating up the stairs, as simple as waving your wand around and _poof_. But Melissa insisted to lose a few stones by using the time-old tradition of simply _walking_. Of course saying that was easier than actually doing it as Sam found.

It was a clear day, as the days in Albion were, just by the virtue of being able to see patches of sunlight through the dense clouds. Sure, it could not be compared with the skies of Roma or Tristain. But it was something to thank the gods for.

One cannot win a civil war with bad weather.

Through a window, Sam could see the troops on the parade below. A company of Harthsrow Grenadiers engaged with one another in mock duels with training staves. They were dressed immaculately in bright blue fatigues and red shakos with billowing feathers. These troops were sent by the countess of Harthsrow when the province had thrown in their allegiance to the cause of the rebellion.

The armies of the revolution marched under a multitude of banners. Harthsrow grenadiers marched under the banners of the blue skylark; the green lizard of the Greenswich irregulars; iron golems under the sigil of the Albion Magisters; dragon knights with the purple cloaks of house Gordrick; Albion aerial corsairs sailed under the black banners of the skull-and-cross-wand; and many, many others.

Six years. _Six years since the start of the rebellion,_ _and more dead than I care to see. _

"Lord Thomas! What a marvellous day it is to serve."

Sam turned and saw a young man approaching him. He was a handsome man, of thirty-five. "Lord Armswell," Sam answered. "I apologize I did not see you approach. I was too busy resting after the stairs. Just taking a small breather."

Lord Patryck Armswell came up and sat down next to Sam. He was smiling. He always wore that smile like a cloak. _What was he hiding?_

"Lord Thomas, it is unbecoming of you to be defeated by a flight of stairs. What ever happened to the Lion of the West?"

Sam could not help but go red with embarrassment. "Lion of the West" was an affectionate name created by the court after his involvement in the siege of Harthsrow Fort. Sam could not forget what had happened there, barely four years ago. In truth, it was nothing more than an accident that he saved the countess. He did not deserve the praise that was heaped upon him; he did not deserve the four-hundred men that were sent to him as part of the pact of allegiance.

"Good weather we have today, surely the Founder has gifted us such a thing to bring victory ever closer."

"Yes, yes," Sam said hurriedly. "It is fine weather indeed, my lord, but it is simply just that. When all of Gandalfr's Angyls and Followers appear right before us in a halo of light, and retake Lanchester Fort without a single death, it is through that I will believe in a true miracle from the Great Founder."

That smile never left his face. "Be careful, Lord Thomas, the Orthodoxy Inquisition is still active even with the war. A simple comment, even one intended to be a jest, can be interpreted as heresy."

"As fine as it is to comment on the weather and debate theology, if you do not mind, my lord, I have urgent business to attend to. The Lord Protector awaits me." Sam got to his feet.

"Ah, yes. I have been meaning to gain me an audience with the Lord Protector, but the war effort hinders him from seeing me according to his servants. I have been stuck in the capital for far too long. Would you kindly do me a favour in suggesting to Lord Cromwell that a certain courtier is in need of an audience? I believe it is of the utmost concern regarding the issue of my inheritance. "

Sam nodded, his double chin flapping up and down. _So that's your game, you little toad. Lost your support? _"Yes, I will tell the Lord Protector about your situation."

Armswell patted Sam on the back and smiled. "Thank you, my lord. I hope your afternoon goes well."

Sam said something and departed without a further word.

The small private chamber is just further down the hall and to the left. You can't miss it, because of the two mail-plated Magisters standing guard. The elites of the Albion magical forces glanced down at his direction, combat-staves held at the ready in their gauntlets.

Sam coughed and started to address the two guardians. "I am-"

"We know who you are," one of them interrupted. He spoke with a great boom of a voice through his fully-enclosed great-helm. "Lord Cromwell is expecting you."

The door to the chamber opened up with a spell. "Go, Lord Cromwell does not like to wait."

Inside the chamber was a small but spacious room with a veranda to allow sunlight in. The first thing Sam noticed was the disembodied musical instruments enchanted to play music. They were playing a piece that he did not know. It was slow and sorrowful. It brought Sam back to happier and safer times.

"That is the _La Mademoiselle, _my dear Lord Thomas; it is a song about a young peasant girl longing for her beloved who is at war. A fitting piece I would say. I believe it is now being sung at the front."

Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of Albion, the architect of the nation's madness and its saviour, was sitting down in a simple cushioned chair and casually twirling a goblet of red wine between his fingers. The Lord Protector had spoken without turning his gaze away from the veranda. He stared into the distance, beyond the clouds and stars that no magister had yet been able to reach.

Just then Sam realised there was another man in the room. A tall grim-faced man with golden blonde hair sat near the corner in a wooden chair. He wore the segmented armour and purple tabard of the Albion aerial forces. His intricate coat-of-arms showed him to be a high ranking officer. He was Captain-General Julian Rhodes of the Albionese Air Force and Cromwell's adjutant. Rhodes gave Sam a nod of acknowledgment.

Rhodes was known throughout the realm for his strict discipline and extreme competence. It was through him that the Albionese Air Force became the most feared in the continent.

Cromwell lost himself in thought. Sam wondered what the man was thinking. As a figure, he was an enigma. Nobody understood just how the man thought. He had risen up against the unlawful absolutist monarchy and pulled Albion into a long and bitter struggle for freedom. The man was a genius, everybody knew, and the rebellion would not have succeeded without him from the beginning. At times, Sam saw him as a charismatic leader, one that took direct leadership and initiative. But at others, he was an introvert, who locked himself in this secluded tower like a witch or a necromancer from the ballads and stories. Nobody knew who the "real" Oliver Cromwell was.

Finally, after less than a minute Cromwell spoke. "Do you remember the days when we were under the clutches of the monarchy, Samuel?"

Cautiously, Sam spoke: "My Lord?"

He turned around to face Sam and smiled. "I apologize; I was lost in a daze. I was daydreaming of memories long gone and of no importance except for the sake of my nostalgia. How are you Sam? I hope it has been well?"

"Fine, my lord, I have the reports ready now." Sam pulled out a number of documents tied together with a red string.

"That is good. We have waited too long. The Captain-General was just demanding to start the stratagem meeting right away. But I told him that it would not do without you, Lord Thomas."

Sam looked sheepishly at Cromwell and at the Captain-General. "Yes, well. I apologise, my lords. My girth is not what it used to be. And I was delayed by Lord Armswell."

"The sycophant." Cromwell said that in a voice usually reserved for when discussing the common vermin. "I've been meaning to put him somewhere where I could see less of that weasel. Speak no more of him."

He then turned his eyes to the Captain-General. "You may start now, Rhodes."

Rhodes took out his wand from a pouch and cast spell of illusion. A map of Albion appeared in the room. Numbers, shapes and symbols represented companies, battalions and regiments. It was colour coded for easy identification: Blue for the revolutionary forces and red for the loyalists. The entire civil war was present in the confines of this room.

"Begin."

Sam took out a bundle of papers and began to read them out. He told them of how a hamlet at West-temple had been ransacked by mercenaries (under whose pay nobody knew) with three-hundred serfs killed. He told of a famine that was ravaging the underbellies of Greenwhich because nobody was tending to the fields. He told of how the famed Ironsides were defeated during an attack by a force of pyromancers and golems. He told of how, once again, the great Lanchester Fort failed to be captured and the revolutionary forces driven off.

"…We have taken Sussex, but with heavy losses. Generals sympathising with the revolution have turned their armies around to face Londonian Fort. Lords Montreux, Wilson and Harington have amassed their peasant levies against the southern bastions."

Cromwell was now in his cold calculable state. His eyes darting from location to location as Sam read the reports. Cromwell noted the number of flashing squares and triangles, each denoting a unit in action or in retreat. The majority of the retreating units were loyalists. He pointed a finger towards a blue square. It was a triangle with the symbol of a gauntleted fist, symbolising an Earth based regiment. It was one of the many units violently flashing.

"That unit over there, that heavy golem unit."

Rhodes switched his gaze towards the indicated unit. "Yes, that is the 21st. It is currently to be disbanded after taking heavy losses. The brigade suffered sixty percent casualties after attacking Lanchester. I heard that the commander had his men flogged for their failures."

Personally, Sam was a man of peace and would only use violence only when prompted as proven in Harthsrow Fort. Only six years ago, he would have baulked at such measure to maintain discipline. He did not like the way Rhodes casually commented on such an act of barbarity, but he understood just what was needed to win the war. _Even at the cost of personal freedom._

Cromwell studied the map carefully. "The royal family is putting up more of a fight than we thought. The defeat of loyalist forces is crucial before we can expand our war into the rest of the continent. What of the agent, the chevalier from Tristain? Have we received any news from him?"

Sam shuffled through the papers until he found the intelligence reports from the mainland. "He is to be scheduled to arrive within the fortnight. Our contacts in the mainland have already met with him for debriefing. It seems that he has critical information regarding the position of the Tristain royalty."

Cromwell sipped his wine. It was an excellent vintage, Sam could tell by the label. A product of the royal Nourmaundie grape yards in Galleia. It took someone of Cromwell's influence and wealth to import such a luxurious item all the way to Albion with the Tristain navy's embargo. The entire contents of this goblet were worth more what a plebeian's monthly income.

"It is imperative that the rest of the continent must not be allowed to interfere before we crush the loyalists."

Rhodes snorted at that. "They fight more with each other than anyone else. Some royal families still see the Tudors as upstart rulers; they wouldn't give a rat's ass if we took over the throne."

"The politics of Halkeginia are complex but they all obey one thing: the status quo. If one faction falls or loses power, you can be sure that there would be a scramble for one group to take the advantage. That's why any change in the status quo is so feared amongst nobles; they are scared for things that change."

Rhodes spoke up. "Better the devil you know than the one hiding in the shadows."

"That is what I am counting on. Tristain and Albion have a history with one another. Though Germania wants nothing to do with Albion's current plight, they could not risk antagonising their neighbour, especially with their eastern frontiers against the Rodinians. More recently, the marriage between the Crown Prince of Germania and Tristain is a dangerous thing. The allies in Ostmark and Polska is just simply too weak to unite and do anything. I need them to squabble and fight amongst each other. I want them to claw at each other's throats so that there will not be any opposition to impede us."

"Our spy will stop that?" Rhodes asked.

"The last time the agent contacted our sources, he mentioned some important document that guarantees such union between Tristain and Germania will not exist." Sam replied.

Sam had many agents active throughout the continent. One thing about being a retired trader is that you develop a web of valuable contacts throughout a very successful career. He made sure to milk those connections as much as he could.

Cromwell drained the last drops of wine. "Enough. We shall meet again tonight to discuss the situation with Lanchester. I feel unusually tired all of a sudden. Must be the wine."

Sam bowed. "Yes, my lord. Will I be taking these documents with me?"

"No, leave them. I shall look through them and I believe the Captain-General will also need them."

"The Albion general staff needs to have confirmation for the latest offensives. I shall have them draft a plan for the next Lanchester attack, and we can certaintly make use of these reports." Rhodes announced.

Cromwell took out a bottle of Nourmandie wine and additional goblets. "Before we all go, my lords, shall we drink a toast to the future of Albion?"

Rhodes smacked his lips. Even the most straight-backed aristocrat needed to get drunk now and then. "Yes, I don't see why not." Rhodes said.

Sam eagerly took the goblet. Cromwell unscrewed the bottle and poured each of them a generous amount of the liquor.

Cromwell raised his goblet. "To the future of Albion!"

The rest of them echoed the toast. Sam stared at the crimson liquid inside the goblet and hesitated momentarily before drinking his wine. He thought of the bloodshed to come.

_/_

The time was 0530, according to his HUD. He had slept for four hours the night before in a dreamless sleep. As with other nights, Saito had not gotten out of his power-armour and had instead worn it to sleep, with his Stomper and combat-knife at his side. There were no existing threats within the walls of the castle to justify his paranoia. But recent events, such as the duel with Guiche, had warned him that there were still dangers out in this world that were still unknown to the Spartan.

It was almost dawn and Saito could smell the morning dew as he powered down all the armour systems of his Mjolnir and prepared for his daily workout by disassembling its components. He systematically took them off with ease; it was a ritual he had performed a hundred times. Each Spartan was responsible for maintaining their gear. The few ONI technicians and services available aboard the Xanatos were often swamped and were in short supply. The type of missions they were sent to mean that they suffered horrible attrition rates and the ability to reinforce and resupply were rare.

He was left wearing only in his undersuit when he finished with dissembling his power-armour. The pieces laid together in a neat pile. He stored it away safely underneath Louise's four-poster bed. He was aware that his tiny master was still asleep.

Saito knew that Louise had a bad habit of talking in her sleep, a fact that he felt prudent not to mention. Saito still haven't even talked about what had happened during the lecture theatre despite being the fact that it had happened more than a week ago. It was an awkward moment and, more importantly, a moment of weakness for both of them. Paranoia was justified, but weakness was unacceptable. It was something that the Spartan could not comprehend.

He made his way down from the tower and into the courtyard.

Ever since arriving in this backwater world, Saito developed a series of workouts to keep his body in fit condition. He felt the wind across his face and the soft grass on his feet. It felt good to be outside.

Soon, Saito began his first lap. Then the second, third, and fourth. Before the sun rose up and the first rays of sunlight beamed down, he was up to his fiftieth lap.

_Fifty laps in twenty minutes_, he thought. _I am getting weaker._

_Weakness is unacceptable. _

Fifty laps around the castle were considered by normal people to be an awesome feat of herculean endurance. Not even Olympian athletes could match such physical prowess. But Saito was not considered "normal" by any stretch of the imagination.

Saito was by no means the strongest or the fastest Spartan in Theta Company. When the orphans for the initial class of Theta Company were recruited – or, as some would say, kidnapped - they were not chosen for their strength, intellect or wit. The children of the Spartan II class were chosen specifically because they were the epitome of the human race through a strict series of criteria to ensure only a select few can even begin the deadly augmentation progress.

Saito had none of these traits. None of the Spartan IIIs did. They were made markedly inferior from their bigger cousins. Everything they would ever do, a Spartan II could do better.

In short, the Spartan IIs were designed to be fine-made warriors while IIIs were made to be mass-produced soldiers. They were built to fight and die like the dogs they were. That was the, Saito thought bitterly, the Spartan's reason for existing.

They were told this in every single part of their training. It was mentioned so often that it forged a sense of bitterness which their Spartan Commander used to manipulate. As a group they trained, fought and bled each other until they perfected the arts of war. To be better, no, _greater_ than their peers.

_Weakness is unacceptable. _

That was why he trained himself to the utmost perfection. But constant drilling and training could only do so much. Running laps and physical exercise were things Saito could do while in his sleep without breaking a sweat. He could perform maintenance on his equipment while blindfolded.

Saito ran lap after lap, mesmerised by his thoughts, until he realised that the morning bell was chiming. Crowds of students and servants were already flocking out of the dorms and into the great hall. Familiars were not permitted to enter and so were ordered to stay outside.

But it seemed that his unique status as a relatively human familiar granted Saito some leeway. The duel with Guiche helped him too. With Saito's absolute victory over the young aristocrat, his status had risen considerably. At the same time, Guiche seemed to be the laughing stock of the entire school with a popularity level even lower than that of Louise. That was saying something.

The once arrogant noble seemed to have become a social pariah. He still possessed an air of pride and superiority that seemed to have been bred into him, chin raised high and an air of importance. But that pompous ego seemed to evaporate whenever Saito showed up.

As Saito entered the students halted and stared at the Spartan. Saito ignored them and headed towards the stairs. As soon as he turned his back they started to mutter under their breaths. His enhanced hearing enabled him to hear their conversations.

"Look, its Louise Valliere's familiar."

"What? I thought he was a golem."

"No, you imbecile, he is a Rodinian Cossack created from the parts of dead people. Look at those scars on his face; they don't look like ones a living person could have."

"You are right, that face look as if it has been cut off from corpses."

"Wait, I thought he was an Albion spy…."

"His body isn't half bad, though…"

"Oh no, he's looking this way. Let's go to the hall."

In the days after the duel groups of nobles would appear to give him a congratulatory shout and cheer, honouring his victory over the Gramont boy. He did not join in. Saito's chilly reaction stopped them from congratulating him after he refused to meet their acknowledgment. In the space of a few days, everyone reverted back to their passive hostility. Saito felt that there was no need to celebrate what he thought was beneath him.

The many voices began to fade as they retreated into the great hall. Saito ignored their petty gossip and continued up stairs to Louise's room. He passed by other students as they made their way down stairs for breakfast. The ones that lived in the dormitory wing knew that Saito had finished his morning routine as they so regularly saw the Spartan. They no longer reacted to him as they had before, but they still avoided him as he approached.

A manservant approached him and hesitantly bowed. Judging by his uniform, he belonged to the kitchen staff. He was a thin character with short, messy blonde hair. He was probably no older than sixteen. "Ahem, excuse me, Mr-sir Saito, sir…I just-" He appeared nervous and timid, unsure whether or not to say anything.

"Spit it out." Saito spoke, not unkindly, but the sudden words made the boy jump.

The servant swallowed, "We- we from the kitchen all saw what you d-did the week before. We, the kitchen and castle staff, well, really, really respect you for what you did. I mean, defending yourself and giving those nobles the taste of their own medicine…It-it was magnificent…"

Head raised up high, eyes awed with adulation. Saito knew of such looks, they were the same whenever a Spartan arrived to save a beleaguered human populace from the Covenant.

It was also a look that people gave when they realised that a Spartan was a head and shoulder taller than everyone.

Saito decided interacting with this civilian was an amusing distraction.

"I did not fight for the sake of the servants, but for myself," Saito said. "The Gramont boy was no serious matter and would be of no concern to you."

That seemed to have had the opposite effect on the servant than what he had expected. The servant was in awe. To him, the warrior was everything he had expected a noble knight to be from stories. He was strength, honour and humility. The Valliere's warrior-familiar, seeing a castle maid being harassed by the Guiche princeling, defended her honour by challenging the aristocrat mage to personal combat. It was said that the warrior had delivered an eloquent speech decrying the decadent practices of the aristocracy delivered in flowery prose which had humbled even the grandmaster with its passion. In the end, the noble was defeated by unmatchable combat prowess. But the Spartan was a humble being. His honour unmatched and he instead accepted the surrender from the noble with grace.

Well, that was the version the kitchen-hand had accepted. It was either that or the rumour that he had taken the maid afterwards for his own amusement and ravished her. Or he could belief the tale where Saito had mutated into an eldritch abomination, in the shape of a wolf, and devoured the young nobleman. But all of that was just silly.

"M-Mr Saito, sir" he stammered. "I would like to say that, you are welcome to the kitchen anytime you want. I mean, it would be an honour to cook something for someone like you and Marteau the head chef wouldn't mind. We bring back plenty of leftovers from the feasts and most of it goes to waste. Please come in anytime if you want something." The boy gave Saito another bow. This time he made a deeper movement, showing more respect, and left. But he stopped and came back, red-faced. "Sir," he added and quickly left.

/

Back in the dorm room, Louise Valliere had woken up. She stretched her arms wide, trying to signal to the rest of her body that she was awake. "Servant, get ready for-"

She stopped mid-sentence as she saw that her familiar was not present. A momentary panic permeated her morning thoughts. _Where is he? Where is my familiar? Has he abandoned me?_ Then her sleep-addled mind began to clear, and she remembered that he was on his morning run. _Just like a mongrel dog._

Instead of stewing on her exasperation (and isolation), Louise got up and walked over to her wardrobe and began to change. She wondered about her familiar and what had been going on since the past week. Under her tutelage, the Spartan became hyper-competent in the written language at a frightening pace. She told herself that it was all because of her academic talents. In truth, the warrior displayed a frightening ability to learn and adapt.

Louise, despite her failings in the practical department of magic, was well learnt in theory. The pile of parchment on the desk was a testament to her intelligence. Essays, treatises and research papers marked with high praise from her tutors showed that beneath the "Zero", lays a high achiever as befit one of the Valliere bloodline. But the Spartan was frightening. It was a mistake to judge the Spartan as anything but a huge pile of muscle and armour, as Guiche had found out the hard way.

The incident with Guiche was another thing altogether. She celebrated the fact that her familiar had won the duel against the noble. The idea of the arrogant, obnoxious and self-centred little piss-drinker being humiliated in front of the entire school brought a warm feeling to Louise whenever she thought about it. It was a sweet, sweet feeling to be the one dominating something for a change. But that was the crux of her worries. A commoner, as awe-inspiring he was under his suit of armour (powered armour, she added, remembering what her familiar had told her), was still a commoner

Magic-less and of common birth this particular person had beaten and, worse of all, _humiliated _a mage in front of his peers. Despite him being the third-born son and a third-rate human being, he is still a member of the vastly influential Gramont bloodline, an aristocratic military family that could be traced back to the founding days of Tristain.

_What to do, what to do?_

/

Siesta made her way up the tower-stairs holding a basket of undergarments in her hands. She was with another maid, Francesca, who was also carrying a basket. Francesca was a young girl of sixteen and spoke with the accent of those who hailed from the eastern provinces, a place famed for their wheat outputs and fine wines. They also had an unfortunate reputation as big talkers who could not shut their damn mouths.

"Siesta, is it true that you and that familiar…I mean word got around that you and the giant were seen together many times over the week. I mean, I heard it from Ann, in laundry, who was told by Patrick, the staff hand, who read it in a student's letter home - which is odd since he can't read - who had sworn that he saw you and the giant together in the east wing of the castle. I think I remember it was Old Stewart who said that, but then again he is becoming blind and senile at his age. Anyway, rumour has it that you and the warrior are doing you know…Oh my Founder! Is this like in the stories? The forbidden relationship between a magister's familiar and a serving wench! Oh my! I apologise, Siesta, it's not that I'm judging you by calling you a wench or anything. By the stars, how I envy your curves and those marvellous bust! Oh look I'm rambling again."

Siesta fought the urge to bang her head against the stone walls just to shut off her cognitive functions. Moreover, she fought the desire to bang Francesca's head against the wall until all that remained was a bloody stump. Even then she doubted that it would truly silence the blabber mouth. Siesta sighed.

"No, Saito and I are not together as Ann and whoever else are saying. It's all just a misunderstanding. I just happened to be there whenever Miss Valliere's garments needed to be put into the laundry which Saito delivers to me. Sure, we talk and chat but that's all."

Actually, it was Siesta who did the talking while the Spartan just walked on in silence, occasionally responding with answers to her questions. Whenever he talked of his homeland, Saito talked as if he was recounting it from a book. It was informative, of course, but it was frustratingly void of any emotions. He did everything as if he was an automaton, almost as if he really was a golem.

_Urgh, why are all men such thick creatures?_

"Hmmm, I always thought of him as a taxidermist's project, all stitched-up and brought back to life. I never suspected Miss Valliere of being a necromancer though; she doesn't look like the type. Of course I guess that's the point of these modern-day ne'er-do-wells; they are always the types you least suspect. The more nice and normal they appear, the more likely they'll go off and raise the dead from the local cemetery to take over the known world. _He was so kind_, they'll say. _He was so quiet too_ they'll add. Never thought he was secretly planning to become the Eternal Liche-master of the New UnDead World Order, ha! Its all in those bigwig broadsheets for those educated types in the cities. Mind you, the Tristain royalty controls them tightly. It's pure suppression of our basic rights! Reminds me of the time when my cousin Betsy in Nouvre…."

Siesta cut her off, "We are servants, Francesca, serfs, we don't _have _rights. You should also not be talking about the masters like that."

The blonde waved it off. "Specifics. We may be the uneducated masses that grovel under their feet. We may be magic-less servants who have to use our God-given arms to do all the dirty work, but our labours should not be exploited; we control the means of production! Take my hands, Siesta! We the oppressed masses shall raise the banners of revolution and cast down the parasite-class who bleeds dry the very blood of society!"

Siesta rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. The eastern farm girl could get heated sometimes. "Francesca, I… I have no idea what you are on about. I honestly cannot comprehend your babble today. I mean, it's even more bizarre than usual. Have you been reading those pamphlets that the students have been passing around?"

Francesca gave an indignant huff. "The teachings of Ulyanov of Simbirsk are revolutionary. What Ulyanov prescribes in his pamphlets and essays is that we shall merge all of Halkegina into a classless society through the pro-, pra-, prolo-, prol-… _Potatoes_!"

"You just made that up, didn't you?"

"I've read it in the pamphlets, transcribed from the very mouth of Ulyanov himself!"

"Wait, I thought you couldn't read, Francesca?"

"I may have overheard the students talking about them when I made my rounds…" She answered sheepishly. "But that still doesn't diminish my revolutionary spirit!"

Siesta had no way of knowing how in the Founder's name this conversation turned from concerning her and Saito to necromancers and then to revolutionaries. It was also said that those from the southern provinces had a natural knack for steering any conversation away from its original topic. Seems they had perfected it into an art form.

"Look, Francesca, we need to move on with these undergarments. The matron will have our heads if we don't get them back to the masters before mid-"

"Siesta, I need directions." Saito said suddenly.

_Holy mother of Bremnir! Where did he come from?_ Her mind was racing at the very sight of him.

All Siesta managed was a squeal of surprise and dropped her basket. So did Francesca.

"Oh Founder! You scared me!" For a man so huge he could move around like a mouse. She then noticed that the clothing she was carrying had scattered all over the ground. "Look what you have done!"

Saito looked down at the two frightened girls and then at the ground that was now littered in various undergarments.

"Sorry," he said. It was comical how deadpanned his reply was. Siesta figured that this was all that she would get off of him. "Jus- Just help us pick it up!"

The Spartan was already bending down, picking the clothes up. "My mistake, don't worry about it."

He then held both of the baskets in each of his hands as if they were nothing. "Here."

Both the maids gently took them from him. Francesca did so with a little more caution, as if Saito would have struck out and attacked her. When she realised she was alive and whole, Francesca thanked the Spartan.

There was a split second of awkward silence before Siesta spoke. "You were saying something, Saito?"

"The kitchen. I would like to know the directions to it."

"You are awfully tall," Francesca spoke out.

Saito looked down at her. Siesta turned to stare at her, too.

"It's just that outside what the nobles usually conjure, things like golems, dragons, monsters and whatnots you are pretty damn tall, especially for a human. Are you sure you're not a golem? I mean, yes, you are all flesh and blood. I think. Who knows what's underneath that tight suit. You are awfully muscular, too. I would think they would be crafted, like all of those statues I hear of in Heliopolis. What are they made of anyway? My mother is a seamstress, a real one. It looks so flexible, but so…revealing!"

"I- what?" Saito managed to say, dumbfounded and caught off guard by the rapid-burst of questions and comments.

"Well, the rumours around the castle is that you are a-"

"The kitchen is this way," Siesta interrupted, doing the poor girl a favour before she does any more damage. "I'll show you it."

She turned to Francesca. "You have to go back to the matron; I think she would want us to hurry with the clothes, Francesca."

She was about to answer but then she was the glint in Siesta's eyes. An unknown signal told Francesca that to speak any further would be inadvisable. "Ah, right, yes. I just remembered. See you later, Siesta. Bye." With that, she grabbed the clothing baskets and hurriedly ran.

Saito knew enough not to enquire.

"This way please," Siesta said with a smile.

/

The head chef was a big burly man in his forties. His name was Marteau. Saito remembered that this man was the husband of the head matron. It seemed the entire family was part of the service staff for the castle. And why wouldn't they be? Saito heard that the wage of a high servant position was worth as much as a minor noble's income. Good food was hard to come by.

But what was more interesting was Saito's own position in the hierarchy of the castle. He was not wrong that his defeat of Guiche turned the social issue upside down, but it also changed the way that the servants looked at him.

"Our Sword" they had dubbed him. It was funny that even being transported into this world – planet? Universe? He still could not decide - he was still being treated as an object of awe.

Siesta came back with a hot bowl of stew and soft white bread. "My specialty," Marteau said. "It's the exact same thing we served to the noble kids today. I personally think it's wasted on them, but you deserve every helping."

Even with Saito's lack of exposure to good food, he could tell the stew was delicious. Saito tore off a piece of white bread and dipped it into the bowl, soaking up the stew. It was not long before Saito had finished it all. He was hungrier than he had realised.

He was aware that all eyes were on him.

"Hey, mister, can you teach us those moves you used when you fought those golems?"

Saito looked down at the kitchen hand. He was fourteen years old. "Sorry kid, I don't think you are up to the challenge yet."

The boy looked crestfallen. Saito realised that he came off as too arrogant. Perhaps he should've broken it to the kid with a little bit more tact.

"But with the right training and equipment I'm sure you could take on armies."

It was true, if you were to arm a fourteen-year old with a gun and teach him the convictions, he would learn the skills needed so that he could stand up to anyone, even if they were genocidal fanatics. That was what the UNSC had done for three decades.

Marteau patted the boy on the back. "Cheer up, Francis! I don't even think anyone in this castle could do what Our Sword did. You really showed those mages what we commoners could do, eh, Saito?"

"I did what I had to do." _Otherwise, Louise won't teach me how to read._

"See! Look at him. This is what a hero is!"

"Our Sword!" The kitchen staff chanted. "Our Sword!"

"I could fetch some water or wine." Marteau suggested. "I believe we have some of Albion's finest wines, fit for a hero!"

He shook his head. "Alcohol is forbidden to be consumed by Spartans." _And would probably have the same effect as spring water. _

Marteau raised an eyebrow. "What a boring lifestyle choice. They don't even let you have a little bit of fun? Not even for a warrior?"

"Not even the slightest."

/

Colbert noticed that it was late. It was clearly after sundown and he really should be getting back to marking those term papers, but his curiosity and one-tracked mind had him looking for _something_. That something was about the mysterious warrior known as Saito, the so-called Spartan. He didn't know what he was looking for precisely, but it drove him to continue.

He could find nothing on the subject. There was nothing on any group of warriors called the Spartans, and he definitely couldn't find anything about an "ooennessee". Nothing concrete on worlds beyond the stars or anything related to the fearsome warrior existed in the available texts. But hidden within the folklore dating back to the past six or so thousand years of history was _something._

That couldn't be right, though. It was almost certain that what the legends suggested couldn't be correct. It was nothing more than legend; it was all superstitions and fables. They were nothing like the learned modernity of today's intellectual sophistication. Colbert told this to himself.

He needed more references. He needed to find more concrete evidence to go on. He looked at the huge stacks of books and scrolls. There was more work to do.

/

_He saw an image of a world covered in metal, a churning sea of quicksilver and a sky filled with a dying sun. A noise, an impossible noise that was only possible if a trillion times a trillion insect all buzzed at once…_

That night, in his bastardised suit of Mjolnir power armour, Saito dreamed of a metal planet.

/

Yosh! Finally got this damn chapter finished. Do you guys think that 7k words were a little too much? I'm going to cut down on word length next time.


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